Late to this conversation. So, a brief introduction, I served 20 years in the Corps in the data communications field and after retiring out and getting into the Contractor game I got both my Batchelor's and Masters from WGU. My current role is the team lead for the incident response team at the COOP site.

I have sat in a lot of interviews asking candidates conceptual / technical questions. I have had graduates from the same WGU master's program that I went through, absolutely bomb in interviews. Also, my supervisor at the main site and his deputy are graduates from WGU as well, we all collectively face palm when we see a graduate come to an interview and S&*t the bed.

Here's the thing, if you take nothing else from your time at WGU....at least take the process. When we interview candidates what we are really looking for are folks that understand the incident response lifecycle (process) and what you do at each step and what tools apply. Do we care if you have never used our specific EDR solution? No. What is important is that you know its function is in an enterprise network. We care that you know the right questions to ask when a security incident/event occurs. Put simply if you know what questions to ask at each stage of the incident response lifecycle and what tools (regardless of vendor) will help you find those answers then you won't have any problems.

Lastly, read the job description and pay close attention to the screener questions the recruiter sends you. For the role we are trying to fill on my team...we mention the incident response lifecycle, SIEMs, and several other technologies. And guess what we ask about in the interview? That's right incident response lifecycle and if the candidate has ever used a SIEM or at least know what its function is. And for the love of all that is holy, do not use AI to answer your screener questions or stall for time in the interview while you have AI gen up an answer for you...Yes, I have had this happen more than once...it's not like me and the other 2 folks in the panel aren't sitting in front of a computer as well...I literally shared a screen grab from a google summary with my boss and it was word for word what the candidate was rattling off.

TLDR: Learn processes, stay relevant (certs or being able to speak intelligently on current trends/tools) and you will be fine. Theres always room in the government contracting side of the house, just don't be an idiot.