On Friday September 16, 2005, the SEABEE MARS community lost their greatest champion.  Robert (The Rat) Ratliff lost his battle with illness at his home in Grants Pass, Oregon.  For those of you that had the privilege, honor and luck to study and learn from this man, I know you feel the same loss.  For any station that passed traffic to or from N0NRI, you know (or should know) that Rat was the driving force behind the success at the main MARS station at Port Hueneme.  For the rest, let me tell you a little something about a man that many called “too ornery to die.”

Robert Ratliff took over the MARS station as a civilian employee at Port Hueneme when there was nothing but one radio, a door, four walls and a roof.  His stubborn attitude did not set well with the Marines who led his section of the 31^st Naval Construction Regiment.  He would always say, “The only way I can get anything done is to tell those damned Marines that they can’t do something.”  With a little resourcefulness and some well placed phone calls, Rat secured several, surplus electronic and radio cabinets once used on ships that he converted for use in the MARS station.  He also secured a dozen or so surplus radios and put several into service after some repairs.  And so is the story of how N0NRI was born, or at least put it on the map. 

Over the next 8 years or so, Rat spoke at several high level meetings and told of the benefits of placing MARS stations at all of the main body deployment sites where the Pacific SEABEES went.  By the time he was done, each and every main body site had at least one radio, a linear amplifier, and a teletype set to send and receive MARSGRAMS.  He also received something else from each site, the dedication and desire of the SEABEES that operated these stations as a part-time, “second job” while on deployment.  His fire and drive to get the job done went hand in hand with the attitude of a SEABEE. 

The station at Port Hueneme operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for many years with a compliment of just 12 operators.  N0NRI acted as relay center west and sent and received 1000’s of pieces of traffic and ran 100’s of phone patches each month.  The ingenuity that Rat possessed was somehow instilled in his operators after a period of time.  Many believe that the SEABEE stations were there just to take care of our own.  This is not the case.  Rat’s philosophy was, “If you can hear ‘em – talk to ‘em and help ‘em.”  His tenacity and passion for providing this service will never be matched.

In 1983, Rat secured funding from the Department of Energy to have 13 solar, photovoltaic systems built for experimental use by all of the Pacific SEABEE sites.  These systems were designed and specifically built based on the latitude where SEABEE stations were located.  This included everything from Adak, AK to McMurdo Station, Antarctica.  He was always looking for ways to improve communications with the outlying stations.  The final technological piece was put into place in 1986 when he added select call to several stations. 

Rat’s constant drive to be on the leading edge of technological advances, plus his relationship with the leaders in the ham radio industry such as Dovetron, Henry, and many others ensured that the SEABEES would be the best equipped, non licensed ham radio operators in the world.  He said to me once, “Give me someone that pulls levers all day on a piece of heavy equipment and I can teach him how to run a radio set.  The buttons and levers are just smaller that’s all!” 

In 1986, Rat retired from civilian service and relocated to Grants Pass, Oregon.  He would get on his radio once in a while, his civilian MARS call was N0BKE.  But he never really enjoyed it much after he moved to Oregon.  My wife (his niece Mamie) and I spent last Christmas with him and his daughter Sharon.  He was in high spirits and spoke of his illness very little.  He told me that after all of the “crap” he endured during WWII he was glad to be able to do some good for military people everywhere.   

Robert Ratliff is survived by his two daughters, Sharon and Suzan.  Funeral services were held in Camarillo, CA. 

On behalf of the entire SEABEE MARS community and those who knew you best, we will miss you Rat!