Due to National security concerns NORAD is to once again track the flight of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The North Warning System consists of 47 installations located along northern border of North America.
Members of North American Aerospace Defence Command are gearing up to track Santa Claus' travels on Christmas Eve, providing detailed information about his whereabouts on the command's Web site and through a toll-free telephone line. Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, provided a tongue-in-cheek assessment of the Santa-tracking mission. He reported a "consistent phenomenon" the command has tracked for decades. "Sometime around the 24th of December, this individual begins to take flight, and he makes a very rapid trip around the globe"
The NORAD elves are looking forward to tracking Santa again this year, General Renuart said. From 2 a.m. Mountain Time Dec. 24 through 2 a.m. Mountain Time Christmas Day, they'll track his progress, posting details on the command's Web site at www.noradsanta.org.
North American Aerospace Defence Command officials celebrated its 49th anniversary May 12 with cake and reflected on the importance of its mission.
"Today we celebrate 49 years of tradition and of history of defending both the nations of the United States and Canada" - Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command.
At a NORAD birthday celebration at command headquarters, General Renuart said May 12 is a day not just to remember the command's birthday, but also the relationship between Canada and the United States. General Renuart's first official trip as NORAD and USNORTHCOM commander was to Canada, where he met with the chief of defence staff, visited Canada Command, and met with senior government leaders
In advance of the holiday season and its 51st season of tracking Santa Claus on his annual journey around the world, the North American Aerospace Defence Command activated its "NORAD Tracks Santa" Web site for 2006.
The military is relegating its newly renovated airspace and missile defence complex in Cheyenne Mountain to standby status - clouding the future of a Cold War nerve centre touted as the most secure spot in America.
The green-jumpsuited sentries who electronically scan the skies from deep inside this granite cocoon southwest of Colorado Springs - built in the 1960s to withstand Soviet nuclear blasts - now are to blend into broader US homeland defence operations under prairie skies at nearby Peterson Air Force Base.