Originally Posted by starvinteacher
Don't concentrate on being a pilot for the majors because you might find that you don't like passenger flying, you might find corporate or cargo flying appealing. Good luck and thanks for your service.
The path to the majors (which includes the big cargo operators) and to any desireable corporate job is the same:
1. Get trained, including instructor licenses, for as little time and money as possible.
2.Work as a CFI.
2b. Fly night cargo is small recip airplanes (if hiring is good and you have a degree you can skip this and go directly from CFI to regional)
3. Get a Regional/commuter job, upgrade to captain, get 1000+ hours PIC in a jet or turboprop.
4. Once you have done that, you can pursue Major pax or cargo airlines or high-end corporate jobs. Trying to get into corporate from CFI can be done, but you will likely spend a LONG time in the right seat trying to build enough hours to be a captain. Usually quicker to get that time at a regional.
Like the other guy, if you can do the Guard in parallel with your civilian career, you will be set.