Well, not really the answer you are looking for. But try to get that turbine PIC up to 1000+. I'm sure that if you do that, with your military experience it shouldn't be too hard to get on somewhere.

Also, make sure you are staying in touch with the guys you flew with from the first day of your training till the last day you flew in the military. This will help you out way more than you think.

As far as the guys that don't want to move on from the regionals, it's not too hard to understand. Doesn't mean that EVERYBODY agrees with their reasoning, I do. I don't plan on making a career at the regional level, but I NEVER look down at those that do. Although the regionals are ALWAYS dependent on what their code share partner is doing, sometimes it's just better for the guy and his family to stay. If you are at one of the better regionals, you can pull 100k a year at the 8-10 year mark, with a high QOL. Toss in the 3-4 weeks of vacation a year, that can easily end up being 9-12 weeks off a year depending where you work. If going to one of the passenger carrying legacy's, throw in a family and having to suck up 30k your first year at some, 50k the second, and 70k the third, maybe by year 4 you have caught up to your regional W2. that's not counting your 401k, etc.

Now, if you had a couple of kids, a nice house, spent more time at home with them and the wife than you do at work, had 3-4 months off every year, make 100k a year, got whatever schedule you wanted, and most importantly, lived in base, what would you do? Suck up the pay cut, move your family to the most junior (usually the crappiest) base, or commute and never see your family as reserve pilot/junior line holder, go without health insurance for six months (at one place), etc?

Yeah, in the end going to the legacy will outweigh the regional, but that catch up point is too long and too expensive for many to endure. Then throw in the factors of another 9/11, oil going up even MORE, whatever. The regional guy is probably in the top 10% of his seniority list VS. being at the bottom 10% at the legacy.

Of course, if you get hired at SW, FedEx, or UPS then just dis-regard everything above.