Zahra Johnson was born in Daykundi, Afghanistan in 1994. Due to conflict and an unstable government, her parents migrated to Iran, a neighboring country, to provide Zahra and her elder sister a better life. Zahra’s family returned to Afghanistan in the early 2000s, during the United States’ efforts to establish security and democracy in the country. She continued her education and attended high school in Kabul.
After graduating from high school in 2013, Zahra’s journey abroad began when she was selected as a Shelby Davis Scholar. As the only female from Afghanistan selected, Zahra earned a scholarship to attend the United World Colleges in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The remarkable opportunity to study at the United World Colleges eventually led Zahra to further her education in the United States, where she studied Applied Forensic Science as an undergraduate at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 2019, Zahra married her husband, Lewis Johnson.
Zahra enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2021 as a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Specialist. Following graduation from basic training, she was stationed in the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. Zahra served as the CBRN specialist with 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. She helped her unit prepare for a rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center and a deployment to the European theater of operation. Zahra ensured soldiers in her unit were trained on the skills and equipment necessary for a potential chemical hazard during their European deployment. During her time assigned to the 1-89th Cavalry, Zahra was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
To further her education, Zahra applied and was selected for the Army ROTC Green to Gold Active-Duty program in 2023; a competitive program with over 1,000 applicants annually. She is currently enrolled as a cadet in Syracuse University’s ROTC program, pursuing her master’s in biomedical forensic science from Syracuse University. Upon graduating from Syracuse University in May 2025, Zahra will commission as an officer in the United States Army. This year, Zahra was selected as one of three 2024 Syracuse University Tillman Scholars by the Pat Tillman Foundation.
