Ask 10 mil guys currently at the airline of their choice, get 10 different answers. Every ARC unit has its warts. If the pay is steady and the commute is workable for either/both jobs the right answer for individual families will vary greatly.

In general, adding more complexity (commuting) to the dual-job life makes the suck factor increase. Flexibility to move to one job or the other, whichever job you plan to work harder, is a good concept. The holy grail of living in domicile for both jobs IS out there, but you may have to move from your most desired location.

Overall from what back channel info I've heard, the mil hour & upgrade is more valuable than the civ hour. Civ guys would love to have the mil diversity on their resume, but many missed the boat on that. I would be wary of sacrificing any mil hour or chance for mil upgrade to enter the regional meat grinder on the altar of diversification.

Thesis: work that mil like a Thai *****. Bum/Trough your way to victory, spend time with the fam, GET PAID. My era of growing up as a mil pilot did not include the current airline hiring frenzy. I only know that any regional pay/schedule pales in comparison to the avg TR life in the trough.