As I wrote here:
One of the most interesting and exciting assignments during my U.S. Air Force career was my tour of duty at the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) complex some 1,400 feet beneath granite Cheyenne Mountain, south of Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the height of the Cold War.
The assignment was interesting and exciting not only because we were working to “protect North America from a space, air, or ballistic missile attack,” but also because we were performing another vital mission. A mission — call it a “tradition” — that for 55 years has remained relatively unchanged for NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD).
The mission: tracking Santa’s flight every Christmas eve.
The story goes that, in 1955, a Colorado-Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and the tradition was born.
Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to phone calls and emails from children all around the world. In addition, NORAD now tracks Santa using the internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa’s whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website.
NORAD tells us that all the preparations for this year are in place, and that Santa’s elves have been busier than usual this year preparing.
But while when I worked at NORAD we used 60s technology to track Santa and to keep children everywhere informed as to his position and progress, I understand that these days NORAD is using “its super high-tech tracking equipment to keep tabs on jolly old Saint Nick.”
According to USA TODAY, NORAD’s super high-tech includes the use of Google Maps, and other high-tech gadgets:
For kids who can’t wait, a Kid’s Countdown Village has links to holiday facts on Google Maps and North Pole-themed games. Clicking the house labeled 22 in the village opens up a “Super Top Secret NORAD File” featuring technical details of Santa’s sleigh and reindeer.
This year, the organization is also making a Track Santa app available for smartphones via Google Maps for mobile at the noradsanta.org site. They’ve written an “Elf Toss” game for phones, too.
So, please take your children, grandchildren — yourself — to NORAD’s Santa’s site to learn more about one of NORAD’s most exciting missions and to find out when to set out the cookies and milk.
