Emergency communications professional and ARRL Life Member Ross Merlin, WA2WDT, passed away on May 3, 2026. He was 67 years old.

Merlin held an Amateur Extra class license and had a career in emergency communications at the national level and in the federal government. He had also long been an advocate for amateur radio. Merlin is credited with creating the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) for CISA, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. He also worked with ARRL in many ways over the years and led the national SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio Program from 2015 to 2021.

Before he became a government employee, Merlin was involved in radio communications professionally with the National Disaster Medical Services (NDMS). Within the federal government, he held many positions, including FEMA National Emergency Radio System (FNARS) manager; FEMA Spectrum Manager and Department of Homeland Security Frequency Manager. Merlin was also on the board of the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation (ARSFI), which funds and operates Winlink and helped to build a substantial Winlink network on government radio channels which is still active today.

A celebration of life for Ross Merlin will be announced at a later date.