Hey jhugz,
Have you considered Frontier, or are you set on going to a regional first? Not only do you meet the requirements for F9, but Frontier has a long history of hiring current Part 135 pilots with your experience, as well as 121 and military. I would bet that Frontier hires a larger percentage of current 135 pilots than any other major airline.
Frontier's ownership team is in Phoenix and a west coast base is planned, with PHX and LAS being the front runners. Frontier is growing with fleet size scheduled to nearly double in the next 5 years. Current upgrades have gone as junior as 2 to 2.5 years if you are willing to be based in MCO or ORD.
The downside is first year pay with the current contract. That contract is soon to be amendable, and hopefully Frontier wages are once again comparable to industry average, including first year pay.
In the past, the key to Frontier employment was a 'silver bullet' (recommendation from current F9 pilot), but recently most success has been to attend a job fair and meet the Frontier recruitment team.
And by the way, Frontier is a great place to work!!
Whatever you decide, good luck to you!