Thank goodness we never had to have a FbF for NORAD ... but on the Friday before Christmas - perhaps we should.
The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.Col. Shoup - Santa gives your heart a nice Fullbore. Your actions are in the finest traditions of the most humane Great Power military the world has ever seen.
In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa.
Merry Christmas to everyone on the front porch; Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrians, agnostic, atheist, and Pagan.
Even if you don't believe in him; Jesus loves you too.
