Charley, your generalisations are broadly correct, though they should be obvious to anyone other than a casual observer.
Don't put too much credence in stories about ex-military people. Some may be true, but most are wishful thinking on the part of those who have a grudge against our pointy-nosed friends!
The ZFT thing is a bit of a red herring. It can be a problem if an airline conducts only ZFT courses - in which case, they're probably employing only experienced, type-rated pilots. Most airlines that take a renge of experience will accept that some of those they employ will not qualify for ZFT courses, and so they'll have to run some non-ZFT courses. The Jetstream is less than 12.5 tonnes, but is still multi-turbine and (generally) multi-pilot, and thus a bloody good type to have on your licence if your looking to get into airline flying.
Scroggs