National Security Agency Vulnerability Analyst interview questions

Applied and interviewed for System Vulnerability Analyst as an individual with similar operational experience working at another agency, both as a fed and contractor. First HireVue ended up being garbled due to my horrid webcam, my fault and I appreciated the opportunity to correct it. Submitted the second and received the pre-CJO email to submit documents. Then received a response that because I don't have a Bachelor's degree, or am not within a year of one, that they won't be moving forward with my offer. Asked if it was possible to qualify with my 16 years of experience, especially since I'm a millennial from the early days of security when universities didn't have "cybersecurity" degrees. Received a response back that is very similar to that old Aflac commercial where the goat says "Nah Nah Nah". The President and Secretary of War are both on record stating that they're desperate for individuals with leading edge cyber experience, as is the new Director of the National Security Agency. The President is also on record stating not every job requires a degree, cybersecurity and CNO are examples of these roles. For some reason, NSA HR/Recruiting or Hiring Managers, whomever creates the "requirements" for these jobs, is turning people with real experience away because they aren't within one year of graduation with a Bachelor's degree, or don't have a degree. I have 15 years of experience in IC and private sector. I've been building open source software, finding vulnerabilities in games and industrial software since the age of 9, circa 1998 - before there were even bug bounties. The Agency down in McLean and others (NGA, NRO, Cyber Command, etc) have done away with these arbitrary requirements, why is the NSA holding on? I have been exclusively applying to NSA since December, but I just submitted applications elsewhere. Mind you, this is the second time this has happened to me. First time was for DNEA, I believe. NSA doesn't even follow their own degree requirements for cyber and CNO when a current employee refers somebody, so why is this being enforced on potential external hires without any referrals? Not all of us are fortunate enough to know people who work there (or know them well enough to ask for a referral), but still want to contribute.