Santa Colonel

by Robert Wilkinson Once upon a time in December 1955 a phone rang, and a tough as nails bird colonel answered, barking at the person on the other end of the line. Then he heard tears, and a Christmas tradition was born. Sometimes even the military get it right, if they have a “Santa Colonel” on duty. If you wondered how NORAD got into the business of tracking Santa globally on Christmas Eve, answering thousands of calls from kids each year, read on….. We find this Christmas story thanks to Steve Hendrix and the WaPo under the banner A child calling Santa reached NORAD instead. Christmas Eve was never the same subtitled “The military’s famous Santa Tracker began with a wrong number.” When you’re done here, certainly go to the link for the whole story. It’s true and a tale of a “by the book” hard boiled Air Force colonel on duty answering the red phone, used only for national emergencies, only to hear someone asking for Santa Claus. Of course he thought it was a joke, and began to blister the caller, only to hear the tears of a child. The kid’s mom explained that Sears ran an ad for kids to call Santa at a number, which due to a typo was the number for the CONAD (predecessor to NORAD) command. That would have been the end of it, but a few days later he walked into the command center where some guys had Santa and his reindeer on the sky map coming over the top of the world. Not really sure how or if to punish the breach in protocol, “Santa Colonel” talked to the PR guys, and then called a local radio station stating “CONAD had picked up unidentified incoming, possible North Pole origin, distinctly sleigh-shaped.” From the story, “The radio station ate it up, the networks got involved, and an enduring tradition was born.” "This Christmas Eve marks the 63rd straight year that NORAD is publicly tracking Santa’s sleigh on its global rounds. ‘Children in Albania better get to bed soon as #Santa is nearby to deliver presents!’ NORAD tweeted Monday evening. Santa and the reindeer were moving quick, reaching Africa a few hours later.” So now you know how the USAF and its North American Air Defense Command got involved in tracking Santa each year! Please check out the story at the WaPo, since it has the complete story of “Santa Colonel.” Merry Christmas to you all! © Copyright 2021 Robert Wilkinson

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