> there could be a bias for a certain type of people to join branches of the military and therefore our capabilities are held back by that bias.

Not only is there a bias, there is one on purpose (not saying that's a good thing). For example, the Marines are known to prefer recruiting from lower-income and lower-education backgrounds. They want scrappy, tough people.

Conversely, the Air Force is the "geek" branch of the military.

There are lots of other examples. If you go on YouTube you can see funny videos of the branches poking friendly fun at each other; e.g., Marines eating crayons.

> Maybe we need to just pay folks more to make them incentivized to work in government?

In the US I think this may be the only way. Private industry pays so much it's hard to compete.