If he's got 1600 hours of mostly piston time then no way he's getting to a major any time soon. Which I'm pretty sure is the point of him posting this. CBP, or any federal job, keeps him in similar pay scale and his 10 years of time already "served" credits, although obviously not to the Law Enforcement portion.
To cpagdog, have you looked into other federal jobs like Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife, and National Parks? All three of those have had multiple openings over the last year on USAJobs and may also give you what you're looking for.