Pentagon Press Sec. Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby opened a December 12 press briefing up to questions. The questions he fielded were largely about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the fight for Mosul, Navy warships, and timelines….well, until near the end of the questions. Then he got an entirely different question, a holiday question.
Early in the press conference, Kirby was asked about ongoing airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and the more than 1,200 airstrikes that have been conducted in recent months. He responded that the Iraqis are committed to Iraqi Security Forces reforms and the hope for more airstrikes by coalition forces.
Additional questions, along with Kirby’s responses, addressed the status of the Iraqi push for a winter offensive against Islamic State militants in Mosul. In his remarks, Kirby stated, “It is part of the campaign plan. And that’s a very deliberate plan that the Iraqis have crafted and developed and are executing with our support, not just our support, but the support of all the coalition countries that are involved militarily, as well.”
It was a serious press conference. But toward the end of the press questions, RADM Kirby turned to a young girl seated nearby who held up her hand.
She asked, “Admiral Kirby, are you ready to track Santa this year?”
Kirby replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact we are. If you go to NORAD’s [North American Aerospace Defense Command] website, I will show you. I don’t have it right handy with me, but I’m sure your dad can help you. They have their Santa tracker all set up and ready to go.”
NORAD tracks Santa Claus?
With the motto, “We have the watch,” NORAD is a United States and Canada bi-national organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning, aerospace control, and maritime warning for North America. Aerospace warning includes the monitoring of manmade objects in space, and the detection, and warning of attack, whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles.
So, tracking Santa is not beyond the range of their missions, right?
Hey, even the military is due a little “Hooyah,” and they do it big.
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, NORAD provides civil authorities with a military response capability to counter domestic airspace threats should all other methods fail. But in December, it’s not a threat they’re watching for—they’re making reports to children about Santa’s location during his flight.
The Santa Tracker program is possible thanks to volunteers and military and corporate partners who develop the websites, mobile apps, games, provide phones for the operations center and more. More than 1,250 military and civilian employees at NORAD and their friends and families volunteer their time off on Dec. 24 to answer calls and emails from children around the world.
For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight. It started with a mistaken phone number in a Sears & Roebuck Co. advertisement in 1955.
Read the full story at http://www.noradsanta.org/ and enjoy their games and Santa information too. Richland Source is following NORAD’s countdown beginning today, and on Christmas Eve, we’ll be following NORAD’s Santa tracker at www/richlandsouce.com
