The previous posters had good points on MAPD and PACE. I know several military guys who did pace, and that is what I would recomend. I will say that I was once in your shoes, and not knowing what I know now, I probably would have done PACE. Fortunately for me I had never heard of it...

1) Get your ratings at a local school, INCLUDING THE CFI!!!
2) Evaluate the industry...many regionals might be hiring at 600 hours in a few years (for several reasons). If that is the case you certainly don't need MAPD or PACE.
3) If you think you need PACE at that point, do it. I would recommend working as a CFI instead, since that experience will get you hired at a better regional.


If you desire to move beyond Mesa (if you don't now, you will after about 6 months there!) be aware that many major airline pilots blame regionals in general and low-time PFT pilots in particular for the collapse of their lifestyle...as an MAPD grad you will be thoroughly despised in some circles and could easily get denied a major airline job due to having the PFT background. That's why I recomend the CFI...military aviation and flight instruction are the accepted paths into this profession. Shortcuts are just that, shortcuts! To put it in your perspective, what would you think of an infantry soldier who got a deal where he managed to skip AIT by donating $80,000 to the army... 1) He's underqualified, 2) The REAL grunts are ****ed off cuz this guy skipped all the BS because he had money...

BTW if you can pick up a reserve or guard helo slot do that...it's not as good as fixed wing military from an airline perspective, but you can get in without college, and any military aviation is good on the resume.