Tim Wies’ Centralia High School drum major photo from 1984.
Lieutenant Commander Tim Wies on Whidbey Island.
Lieutenant Commander Tim Wies and his wife, Sheri, in front of their house on Whidbey Island.
Lieutenant Commander Tim Wies.
After a nearly-35 year career in the Navy, serving all over the U.S. and overseas, Centralia High School-graduate Lieutenant Commander Timothy Wies has made his way back to Washington — working at the Naval Ocean Processing Facility on Whidbey Island.
Wies graduated from Centralia High School in 1985 where he ran cross county and track and was one of the first drum majors in the original CHS marching band. He enlisted in the Navy in early 1986 and completed the nuclear power training pipeline in 1988 before heading to the fleet.
“Everything I was involved with in Centralia helped me understand leadership, good and bad, and the traits that I want to emulate. That helped me form the base of my leadership principles now,” he said.
Wies served in many different capacities throughout his Naval career but he currently oversees about 125 sailors at the Naval Ocean Processing Facility on Whidbey Island where they monitor any threats that may be coming in from the ocean. He has 21 years of enlisted service and about 13 years of service as an officer.
Wies is currently on a three-year tour so he will be in the Pacific Northwest for at least 2 ½ more years.
“I’m loving being back here. I just really love the weather and there just isn’t anywhere else you can get this picturesque view,” he said.
Earlier in his career, while Wies was at sea, he served as leading engineering laboratory technician on the USS Olympia — completing two Western Pacific deployments. Wies spent time working on submarines, serving for nine months with the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office. Wies’ first official leadership role within the Navy was in 2010 when he served as a Division Officer on USS George H.W. Bush.
Wies said that his interest in the military was sparked by his time in the local branch of the Civil Air Patrol, which is a federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Wies was involved with Civil Air Patrol at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport for his later high school years and said that he fit in well there.
“As it worked out, the recruiters talked to me about the nuclear power program in the Navy and the high-math, high-science aspect of it. The monetary bonus probably helped a little bit too,” Wies said as to why he went into the Navy rather than the Air Force.
He said that his experience running track and cross country at Centralia High School taught him discipline and mental toughness.
“Coach Williams was always pushing us and that helped with our mental and physical endurance because running is not all about the physical piece — it’s about overriding your mind wanting to stop,” Wies said. “I’ve been told that I’m too focused, but I’m driven and I try to succeed in everything I do.”
The Navy has taken Wies to Illinois, Florida, North and South Carolina, Hawaii, Idaho, Washington and various countries overseas. In between deployments, Wies was able to be there for the birth of both of his daughters.
“I went to Centralia Community College to take calculus because I ran out of math courses at the high school level. I love that they were flexible with me on that and that base of math and science helped me all the way through my career to the position I’m in now,” he said.
Wies said that the experiences he was able to have in Centralia, both in and out of school, have stuck with him and helped him throughout his career in the Navy.
“Centralia was a town that I enjoyed living in and I call it home despite the fact that I lived there only for a few years because that’s really where I learned who I was and was able to grow up a little bit,” Wies said. “I had opportunities there at school and outside of school. Centralia is my home.”
