GS Employees - Were you able to negotiate your step within your grade when first hired?

I have a question for any current/former GS employees that also had military experience.

Were you able to negotiate your starting salary (step within a grade) when you were first offered a position or did you just take a Step 1?

I have been told that I should be able to negotiate my step based off previous experience within an equivalent grade and based on experience with the job I am being hire to perform.

My situation - I've just been tentatively offered a GS-1101-13 position and I'm scheduled to separate from the Air Force as a Major on 30 Apr 15. I have 3 years as a Major and I've been tentatively hired under the expedited hiring authority for acquisition program managers as a by-name-request hire for this position. It is also for a job I just recently held as a Major that has been vacant since I left that office about 6 months ago. They received a new GS-13 billet from HQ to hire against the position and that is the main reason I was by-name-requested for the job.

I've also been told I should use my current salary as part of the bargaining discussion, to include BAS and BAH since it can show that I am currently getting paid $XX and that they are trying to hire me for the exact same job/position, but are currently offering me less than $XX.

Does anyone else out there have experience doing this when they were hired? Any success getting hired above a step 1 within the grade you were offered?