I don't really think the airlines look at CFI as a good or bad thing. Seems that what they want to see is that you have been working as a pilot, not just flying around for fun. That said, there are a lot of different types of flying jobs other than instructing (traffic, pipeline, banner tow, jump plane, etc). I know a lot of guys that never instructed, and were hired at airlines. I know a lot of guys with a CFI that can't even find a job instructing.

My honest advice, since you have a Master's, is go look for some other job besides an airline. I guess if your USAF retirement pays the bills, you could fly at a regional for "the fun of it". If you are hired, after the thousands of other guys with more time get hired, you will most likely spend a long time on reserve and hanging at a crash pad (if you do not live at your base). Not much fun in that!

Not sure if the crew time has any pull in the hiring process. It doesn't count for any time, just as a "familiarization with aviation, weather, etc" I had over 2500 hours as a crew member in a KC-130. During the interview at my airline they asked to tell them a time when I experienced an emergency and how did I deal with it. Most of my examples were in military aircraft. Seems military aircraft have a lot more issues than anything in civilian aviation!