Rich and Strange Aeons

Women can be combat pilots in the other services too. We have a female friend who missed out on Marine jet training only because she was too short. She's now a CH-46 pilot (and probably sees more action than anyone in the AF). I think the only real ban for women now is actual assignment to combat arms occupational specialties (infantry, artillery, etc.).

I think you're also making the common mistake of confusing "more technical" with "more intellectual." There's some great serious intellectual discussion going on in the Army right now between mid and senior officers who have PhDs from places like Stanford and Oxford about counterinsurgency.

And the Marine Corps, while putting less emphasis on formal education, is quite cutting edge in terms of military thinking. As Ricks put it in The Gamble "The Marine Corps tolerates outliers and even downright eccentrics much more than the Army."