Mark Zinno

Mark Zinno

Atlanta Program Manager

Mark Zinno has served over 22 years in the US Army, both on active duty and in the National Guard, where he currently holds the rank of colonel. He has multiple combat deployments overseas to Iraq. In his civilian career, he is a radio/television talk show host in several markets, most currently in Atlanta. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in communications and a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. He is married and lives in Smyrna, Georgia with his three children.

Mark was born and raised in Long Island, New York. He played every sport imaginable as a kid throughout high school, but mostly baseball and football. After graduating high school, Mark went to Loyola College in Maryland where he joined ROTC and became a member of the varsity co-ed cheerleading team.

Immediately after graduation, Mark was commissioned to active duty and reported to Fort Hood, Texas. After two years there, he was reassigned to the Army National Guard and returned to Baltimore, Maryland. While working in the civilian workforce, Mark also became a member of the Baltimore Ravens co-ed professional cheerleading team. In 2005, Mark was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq and served with both 10th and 5th Special Forces Groups where he stood up and trained the Iraqi Special Operations Forces Support Battalion.

He returned stateside and began his radio and television career in sport talk where he worked for ESPN Radio and CBS Radio in Baltimore, Maryland. Over the next several years, Mark would host his own show and make appearances on radio for national networks and in New York City. Then in 2011, Mark was deployed again to Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division all the way through the close out and end of the Iraq war.

After returning home again to his radio/television career, Mark was moved to Atlanta by his company in 2014, where he has been ever since. In Atlanta, Mark created and developed the “Hazard Ground Podcast” which tells stories of combat and survival from a first-person point-of-view by the veteran themselves. The podcast has over 4 million downloads and worldwide audience. The Hazard Ground is what eventually connected Mark to Merging Vets & Players.

Mark has been part of MVP Atlanta since its first ever meeting in December of 2018. “It was great to be part of something from the ground up. Being there at the very beginning has allowed me to see the growth and potential of an organization like this. I’ve seen lives changed at almost every single meeting.” He took over as the Atlanta Program Manager in June of 2021