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The National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) awarded 11 Eagle Scouts with the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award to recognize their professional accomplishments, one of whom is a successful rowing Olympian who connected many of his accomplishments back to the skills of being a Scout. 

The NOESA was established in 2010 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Scouting America. The award recognizes Eagle Scouts who have demonstrated achievements beyond their Scouting experiences. On April 22, 2025, the NOESA will be presented to the Eagle Scouts at an awards dinner in Arlington, Virginia. 

Christian Tabash is a rowing athlete from Vienna, Virginia and an Eagle Scout from Troop 976 in National Capital Area Council. Tabash feels humbled to be recognized for his accomplishments with the NOESA. 

“It’s humbling but it’s also a testament to the community that I’ve had that has paved the way for me to do the things that I’ve done,” Tabash said. “My life is just a culmination of others and especially my parents and a lot of the sacrifices that they’ve laid as a foundation for my life.”

In 2017, Tabash won the World Rowing Junior Championship in the men’s eight and in 2021, won bronze in the four with coxswain at the World Rowing Championships. After much dedication and training, he participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a member of the United States men’s eight boat winning the bronze medal. 

In high school, he was hoping to get recruited for college with soccer but changed his mind and decided that rowing would be a better fit for him. 

“My sophomore year, I ditched soccer,” Tabash said. “It was hard to let go. I never looked back and got recruited to row in college.”  

Tabash rowed in college at Harvard University and then became a graduate student at the University of California where he qualified for the United States Olympic Team. When he finished college, he moved to Sarasota, Florida to start his training in October of 2023.  

Tabash described his time on the Olympics as a full-time job due to the commitment of 3 to 4 hours of training every day. As a newcomer, he had to persevere and displace someone who was already on the team since he was entering during the Olympic year. 

“I fully immersed myself in what was required for that endeavor and at the time, it wasn’t guaranteed or even likely that I’d make the team,” Tabash said.  

In his senior year of high school, Tabash earned his Eagle after completing a project of building larger than average picnic tables at a park area with a baseball field. The priests on the property needed updated benches, so he worked with his neighbor, who was a carpenter, to provide for the community. 

Tabash describes himself as a goal-oriented person, which he believes was integrated within Scouting and helped him within his professional career. 

“There were always clear-cut goals, whether it was for merit badges or to rise ranks,” Tabash said. “In rowing there’s clear goals, technical goals, physiological goals and that same mentality translated. It’s like wanting to achieve something and then knowing what I had to do.” 

He describes his coach from 2023 in Sarasota as methodical and scientific and believed his training process for rowing as “very reminiscent of moving through the Scouting experience.” 

Throughout his experience as a Scout, Tabash said he learned so much through exposure and being able to try, make mistakes and learn lessons from it. He remembered the Scout motto about being prepared for life and how the experience continues to affect him today. 

“[Eagle Scout] was a byproduct of being committed to a goal and the path to Eagle Scout is laid out for us,” Tabash said. 

The National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) awarded 11 Eagle Scouts with the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award to recognize their professional accomplishments, four of whom have worked in government affairs and connect their achievements back to Scouting. 

The NOESA was established in 2010 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Scouting America. The award recognizes Eagle Scouts who have demonstrated achievements beyond their Scouting experiences. On April 22, 2025, the NOESA will be presented to the Eagle Scouts at an awards dinner in Arlington, Virginia.

Andrew York, vice president for head of global government affairs at Tyson Foods, feels humbled to receive this distinguished award. 

“It means a lot,” York said. “It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by fellow Scouts.” 

York oversees all governmental affair activities by leading the federal, state, local, and international governmental affairs teams. He has been part of Tysons Food since 2022 where he started as the vice president for government affairs. Before Tysons Food, York worked at General Motors Company as the executive director for federal affairs from 2015 to 2022. 

The U.S. Senate has also been a place of opportunity for York, including working for Senator Mark Pryor. He started as a legislative assistant, became a legislative director, then rose to become his chief of staff. 

York started as a Cub Scout then became part of Troop 71 in Conway, Arkansas within the Quapaw Area Council. Because of the leadership opportunities in Scouting, York believes it helped him professionally. 

“I was in Scouts to play an active role in the management of my Troop, which helped in my professional life as the leader of an organization,” York said. 

Not only does York recognize the leadership skills he developed, but he also appreciates how Scouting teaches individuals to be present within their communities and to help others. 

“Scouting and some of the other things I did reinforce the notion that everybody has an obligation to be part of a community.” 

To continue showing support for his community, York has been a volunteer head coach for Capitol Hill Little League since 2016. 

Thomas Cochran is a retired physicist who worked for the National Resources Defense Council. He started as a senior scientist for the NRDC in 1973 and held the Wade Greene Chair for Nuclear Policy. In 1990, he became director of the nuclear program until 2007. He officially retired in 2011 but remained a consultant and volunteer for the organization. 

Cochran published numerous books based on his specialties for environmental and nuclear issues. For example, he is the author of The Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor: An Environmental and Economic Critique, which was published in 1974. 

As a Scout, Cochran was part of Troop 87 in the Middle Tennessee Council. He acknowledged the impact Scouting had on his life. 

“[Scouting] developed a camaraderie with other people your age that I would not have otherwise.” 

Cochran also believes in the importance of the merit badge process for youth. 

“Going through the merit badge process puts you in a position to engage in a task and complete it, and that had an impact.” 

Richard Meyers is another retired awardee who worked in the government as a forensic chemist for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which is a law enforcement agency within the Department of Justice. Meyers participated in 1,400 explosive investigations and testified as an expert witness for over 100 cases. He also developed a training course for advanced explosives investigative techniques and a curriculum for teaching the systematic analysis of low explosives. 

Meyers was part of Troop T162 for NCAC in Arlington, Virginia. He believes earning his Eagle and Silver Explorer allowed him to accomplish his goals. 

“By having both, I was able to get things done with my government, what I did with the military, and it really helped.” 

Reflecting on his experience testifying in court, he often would refer back to the Scout law. 

“I went through the 12 points of Scout law, and that helped me get throughout a lot of cases that I worked on.” 

Chris Marston, principal of Election CFO, has dedicated years of service to electoral campaign finance and election law. Marston founded Election CFO, which is a political consulting firm that provides services to Republican campaigns and party committees. Because of his work in protecting the honesty and accuracy of campaigns, the Republican National Lawyers Association awarded Marston with its Robert J. Horn Chairman’s Award.

Marston was a member of Troop 96 in the Detroit Area Council. He believes the accomplishments he has achieved are because of the experiences and leadership skills he developed in Scouting.

“Those values and the leadership skills have paid off in all the roles I’ve had since then. I’ve worked in Congress; I’ve worked in the executive branch,” Marston said. “I’m now in the private sector and applying those skills and values that were among the reasons for my success in all those roles and in getting those roles.” 

These four nominees are incredibly honored by the opportunity to receive this award and recognize the life-long commitment of Scouting, which has helped them achieve many of their accomplishments. 

“I’ve always been really proud to be an Eagle Scout,” Marston said. “To have this recognition of my accomplishments outside Scouting is really a great honor.”