Atanas Dimitrov Zapryanov was born on 16 April 1950 in the village of Dragoynovo, Plovdiv District. In 1965, he graduated from the vocational education and training (VET) secondary school in mechanical engineering in the city of Plovdiv.
In 1974, he graduated from the Vasil Levski National Military School of Higher Education in Veliko Turnovo as a Master of Engineering (earning his Master’s Degree in the Signal Troops specialty). In 1982, he earned a Master’s degree in military science and warfare at Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps, Saint Petersburg, Russia. He earned a Master of Science degree in Strategic Management of the Armed Forces at the General-Staff Faculty of the Rakovski National Defence College, from which he graduated in 1995. In 2001, Atanas Zapryanov completed a strategic course at the College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC), National Defence University, Washington DC, United States (Chief Information Officer and Information Infrastructure Protection Manager), as well as various short-term courses: at the NATO Defence College in Rome, Italy (aimed at preparing officers for appointments in NATO) and a senior course at the General-Staff College in Paris, France.
Between 1974 and 1979, Atanas Zapryanov held tactical level positions as platoon commander, company commander, and deputy battalion commander of 95th Signal Regiment of Second Army in Plovdiv. From 1982 until 1986, he served in army signal regiment as chief of staff and deputy regiment commander.
