An aviation related degree may be useless outside of aviation, but it will save you time. Several aviation universities will give you lots of credit for your flight time. I attend ERAU's extended campus and they gave me 35 credits for my flight training toward a pro aero bachellor's degree. It is expensive, but the GI bill more than pays for it. And after graduate, I will still have enough benefits left for a master's in a more "useful" subject.

And I agree with you, four years in a military unit is much more educational than four years of beer bongs and bong smoke in college. But this is an industry dominated by former military officers, where you can have a degree in basketweaving and still be commissioned. They did it, so we have to.