Our nanny's son is strongly considering enlisting (most likely Air Force). Personally, I think it is a great move for him. He's currently in semester 4 at one of the Dallas County JUCOs and, while I haven't audited his course work, I'm thinking he has about a year to get his associates.

The recruiter is telling him that an associates will do a lot for him, including a higher rank, better options on career path, etc. Seems to be a bit of hot air to me, but I know zero about the enlisted world.

He is really hoping to do something healthcare related. Thanks for your thoughts!

My background is strictly from the enlisted side for the Army as a 13B (Field Artillery) so take it for what it is worth.
In my opinion an associates vs enlisting straight out of HS will not "fast track" you so to speak for promotion. In the Army you had to wait time to hit your time in service and time in grade requirements just to be eligible for the next rank, your education level did not speed you through. I went to Basic with a guy who had been a practicing lawyer in New Jersey before enlisting as MI something or other. He came in as a SPC (which is the norm for Soldiers with Bachelor degrees) Having an associates might allow someone to come in as an E-3?
However, from what I saw during my eight years was that Soldiers who had some form of higher education or some type of responsibility after HS were generally less trouble discipline wise than those that weren't, and the civilian education will count for promotion points going from E-4 to E-5 and E-5 to E-6.
Now since the AF and Navy are more technical, maybe a certain degree may allow for faster promotion in that specific field, but if he gets an Associates in computer science and goes medical in the AF then I would not count on it helping.

With an Associates Degree, he will come in as an E3 in the Army or Air Force, but I cant comment on the other branches. After that, promotions will be based on his performance more than anything. The degree will give him more promotion points for promotion to SGT and SSG, and is a discriminating factor for senior NCO promotions, if he stays in that long. As the above poster said, him being older will (should) mean that he is more mature and will hopefully not do all the stupid crap that those straight out of high school normally do. The Armed Forces arent going anywhere, tell him to finish the two year degree and then come in if that is his desire. His ASVAB score, or whatever it is called now, will determine what jobs are available to him, not the degree.

I think the Navy is E2 with about 24 hours and E3 with about 48.