#remember to follow and hit that bell icon!!! /ref

[tabbytime]

squirrelstar 💖 i really need to catch up on warriors again

[allaroundmelbourne]

US military confirms NORAD Santa tracker will run despite shutdown

For the 1500 civilian and military volunteers who will answer the phones for kids calling 1-877-HI-NORAD, it infuses the holiday with childlike wonder.

The serious business of answering calls at the NORAD Tracks Santa centre at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado gets under way today.Credit:AP "They're all really sweet, small voices," said Madison Hill, a volunteer who helped answer the phones in two previous years. The North American Aerospace Defence Command a joint US-Canadian operation based in Colorado Springs that protects the skies over both countries has since run the Santa tracker. The military command centre has embraced and expanded the Santa-tracking mission and has been rewarded with a bounty of goodwill and good publicity. Last year, NORAD Tracks Santa drew 126,000 phone calls, 18 million website hits, 1.8 million followers on Facebook and 179,000 more on Twitter. It takes 160 phones to handle the calls that pour in. New volunteers get a playbook that briefs them on the questions kids might ask. Big screens on the walls show a Santa icon making blistering progress around the globe. US and Canadian officers do live TV interviews from the phone rooms.

The US military tracks Santa as he makes his deliveries across the globe.Credit:AP "It really gets you into the Christmas spirit," said Hill, a student at Mississippi State University who got involved through Air Force family members stationed in Colorado Springs. "There are Christmas carols in the background, everyone's very friendly, happy to be there." One year, she took a call from a boy who began reading a very long Christmas list. "I remember having to cut him off after the 10th present or so," she said, explaining to him that she had to take calls from other children. Loading A girl told Hill she wanted to warn Santa not to bump into a bell hanging on her door. "I think she wanted Santa to be quiet and not wake her up," Hill said. Sometimes the volunteers have to handle the unexpected. In 2012, a child from Newtown, Connecticut asked if Santa could bring extra toys for families who lost children in the mass shooting that year at Sandy Hook Elementary. "If I can get ahold of him, I'll try to get the message to him," replied the volunteer, Sara Berghoff. NORAD's commander, Air Force General Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, will also take a turn answering the phones on Monday. "This is my first NORAD Tracks Santa," said O'Shaughnessy, who took command in May. "I'm really excited." O'Shaughnessy was even asked about the program during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in April to confirm him as NORAD chief. "I assume this committee can count on your commitment to continue that venerable tradition," Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton deadpanned. "Yes sir, especially since my son Sam would want to see that as well," O'Shaughnessy AP Most Viewed in World Loading https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/us-military-confirms-norad-santa-tracker-will-run-despite-shutdown-20181224-p50o13.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed