Mark Zeid spent seven and half years as a military police officer for the U.S. Marine Corps. After leaving active duty, he completed an undergraduate degree in literature and graduate studies in English. But the Marines called to him and he reenlisted in the reserves, from which he retired in 2004. Along the way, he spent 25 years living and working in Japan, which included teaching criminal justice for a satellite campus on military bases in the Far East. He also completed graduate study in criminal justice and worked for the Center for Domestic Preparedness, a training facility ran by FEMA that prepares our nation's first responders to deal with mass casualty and terrorists' events. His field experience includes helping several agencies with investigations and community policing, as well as being deployed to assist with disaster recovery efforts in Japan and the United States.