NORAD Ready to Track Santa

[SoldierInAYear]

Uh, you are going to make sure this doesn't happen, right? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ISiTXehKLk

Hah  ;D

 

[The Bread Guy]

.... for this year have been announced:

With Christmas rapidly approaching, the Canadian NORAD Region has finalized plans to track and escort Santa Claus during his visits to Canada with the selection of four CF-18 fighter pilots who will act as Santa's official escorts.

First to welcome Santa will be pilots Captains Gregory Myers and Aaron Dhillon of 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron who will launch from 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., as the sleigh approaches Canadian airspace. Taking over escort duties as Santa makes his way into Western Canada will be the Commanding Officer of 410 Tactical Fighter Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hamilton and his wingman for this mission will be Captain Corey Mask of 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta.

The Canadian Air Defence Sector Operations Centre at 22 Wing in North Bay, Ont., will alert NORAD when their radar and satellite systems detect Santa approaching North America. The two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets from 3 Wing will welcome Santa off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, then handover their duties as he nears western Canada to the two CF-18 Hornets from 4 Wing who will escort him ensure for the remainder of his Christmas voyage ....

RCAF Info-Machine, 14 Dec 11

 

[medicineman]

What do you think: a Sparrow, Sidewinder or 20mm for the welcome?

MM

 

[Rifleman62]

The site is near the Oak Creek Bridge on the St. Michael’s Road [MD 33] near Easton, MD. The folks who own the property always have eye-catching displays celebrating various ‘holidays’ through the year… this year for Jületide they have certainly outdone themselves!

Merry Christmas

Check your 9 o'clock!

 

[Rifleman62]

Four more.

 

[The Bread Guy]

What do you think: a Sparrow, Sidewinder or 20mm for the welcome?

MM

I'll leave it to air wpn experts to analyze this video for an answer  ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ISiTXehKLk

Meanwhile, the hero shot, attached - photo caption:  LCol Christopher Hamilton (left) and Capt Corey Mask will escort Santa Claus when he arrives in western Canada. Credit: DND.

 

[GAP]

You will never get your kids to go to bed so eagerly as when this happens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=lVEe3VLVdOY

 

[navymich]

Santa received his pre-flight briefing this morning:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/23/final-list-checks-as-santa-preps-for-takeoff

Less then 8 hours before he starts his trip!

 

[navymich]

And Santa's trip for 2011 is complete!  He just left Hawaii and he's headed back to the North Pole.

He delivered 1.9 billion gifts and ate almost over 100,000 cookies.

Merry Christmas!  :christmas happy:



edited to change final cookie count....guess he took some for the trip home!

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Good thing the Air Force doesn't have authority over Santa.... he'd never be in accordance with the Crew Rest regulations!  Makes for unhappy Flight Safety O's......    :subbies:

 

[Strike]

Thanks to all who made sure Santa had a safe flight.  Thanks airmich for helping a little girl believe for another year.

There's an approach plate kicking around for the North Pole that those with flying/controlling experience would find interesting.  I would post it but I'm on my iPad!

 

[observor 69]

This it?  :christmas happy:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Back to that time o' year again....

The North American Aerospace Defense Command is prepared to track Santa's yuletide journey! The NORAD Tracks Santa website, www.noradsanta.org, went live on November 30. It features a holiday countdown, games and daily activities, video messages from students around the world, and more. The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese.

Official NORAD Tracks Santa apps are also available in the Windows Store, Apple Store, and Google Play, so parents and children can countdown the days until Santa's launch on their smart phones and tablets! Tracking opportunities are also offered on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+. Santa followers just need to type @noradsanta into each search engine to get started.

Starting at 12 a.m. MST on Dec. 24, website visitors can watch Santa make the preparations for his flight. Then, at 4:00 a.m. MST (6:00 a.m. EST), trackers worldwide can speak with a live phone operator to inquire as to Santa’s whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com. NORAD’s “Santa Cams” will also stream videos as Santa makes his way over various locations.

It all started in 1955 when a local media advertisement directed children to call Santa direct – only the number was misprinted. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone rang through to the Crew Commander on duty at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center. Thus began the tradition which NORAD carried on since it was created in 1958 ....

NORAD Info-machine, 3 Dec 12

 

[Journeyman]

 

[The Bread Guy]

<cue music>

(In James Earl Jones-type voice)  "You're a mean one ....."

<fade music>

 

[The Bread Guy]

Made it through Pyongyang without being shot out of the sky  ;D
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/track.html

Also, are the F-35's already out helping keep Santa safe on his rounds (2:14 into video)? 

Hope Santa's good to everyone

 

[The Bread Guy]

It was either here or in "dopiest thing you've heard today" thread - WTF?  :facepalm:

Giving Santa Claus and his reindeer a military fighter jet escort on Christmas Eve amounts to manipulative military marketing aimed at defenseless young minds, a Berkeley child psychologist says.

In case you have been working today instead of paying attention to the controversy du jour, here's your catch-up: NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canada military force that protects our skies as well as runs the beloved Santa Tracker each holiday season, is under fire. The reasons? A video that shows Santa and his reindeer accompanied by a military fighter jet escort. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has criticized the video, and, in turn, the campaign has been criticized for its criticism.

"We've gotten some angry e-mails ... questioning my manhood," Josh Golin, the campaign's associate director, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. So Golin, and the campaign's co-founder, Berkeley child and family psychologist Allan Kenner, would like the opportunity to give a full airing to their side of the controversy:

They say they are not anti-military or anti-American -- but they are against any kind of advertising aimed at young, vulnerable minds.

"What's getting lost in the controversy is the child-development piece," Golin said. It's easy for adults to look at the video above and say "What's the big deal?"

"But we are talking about 4-year-olds and 6-year-olds," Golin said. "For young children, the idea of Santa, and that there are 'bad guys' who might want to 'get' Santa, so he needs the jets, that can be very disturbing."

He said that there was no shortage of studies that tie child-aimed advertising and media influences to a variety of ills, such as childhood obesity, violence and bullying ....

LA Times, 4 Dec 13

 

[George Wallace]

Activists mad about Santa Tracker

Activists suggest Santa has become militarized because NORAD provides the Santa Tracker - delighting kids around the world.

Talk about the Grinch(s) who stole Christmas.

 

[Yrys]

Activists mad about Santa Tracker

Talk about the Grinch(s) who stole Christmas.

I wonder about what  kind of childhood they had
to dare attack Santa Claus ... (and Norad of course) !

I woudn't attack their man (or woman) hood, but the
nurture provide by theirs parents...

 

[The Bread Guy]

As it has every year since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command will be tracking Santa on his whirlwind journey to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls around the world.

But he won’t be escorted by armed fighter jets.

When NORAD recently launched its yearly online Santa tracker, the site featured a video showing the jolly old elf being escorted by U.S. fighter jets “bristling with missiles,” as the Boston Globe put it.

That caused a minor earthquake in the Twitterverse about why Santa would need an armed escort. The answer: Russia.

But a NORAD spokesman confirmed to Military Times that the “missiles” are actually fuel tanks.

“Guilty as charged, we tried to give it a more operational feel this year; that was purposefully done to try to highlight our mission sets,” said Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis. “If you look at the second promo video we have where it talks through a mock training exercise, it really lays out what our different missions are and shows the different radar sets.”

So while NORAD will be tracking Santa’s flight this Christmas, if St. Nick gets into a tussle with some MiGs, his only defense will be the evasive capabilities of his reindeer ....

Marine Corps Times, 4 Dec 13

I guess the plus here is that it reduces the chances of this happening.