Working from a Debian specialized install (however I am pretty sure that is not causing the issue)(Allstar Link DIAL image for those that are curious). All configuration and admin is being done from cli. I added the wlan adapter to the interfaces file:

# wireless adapter with dhcp
auto wlp2s0
iface wlp2s0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid myssid
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-group TKIP CCMP
wpa-psk mypasskey

Also there was a script during the install that added info to the wpa.supplicant (I verified it's all correct).

Ok, so here is the issue - the wlan connects and gets proper addresses and dns - I can ping anything and get responses, I can ssh to other systems on my network, there seems to be no problem with bi-directional communications if originated from the system. The same cannot be said for incoming - no ping response, no ssh, apparently nothing.

I don't think it's an issue with the adapter or driver, I am more suspect of the firewall... but hoping someone can help direct my focus and efforts.

Thanks.

Yes, that reads like a firewall issue.

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianFirewall
https://wiki.debian.org/Firewalls

by chance is this "Debian specialized install" Kali ?

It is a bit of a specialized install based upon stretch... I ended up starting from scratch on this one (re-image) and worked up from basic. I had spent a couple of hours configuring the software running on the system and it was all working well on wired connection - I really didn't want to do all that work again. Building up from simple configuration in network/interfaces To wpa_supplicant it is now working. Not sure if it was firewall, but I also left off the TKIP CCMP this time around. As of now all is well, and of course I had invest the time again to reconfigure the software. However very happy to have a working system. Thanks for the suggestions.