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The Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) is set to kick off the 61st anniversary of tracking Santa’s yuletide journey from the North Pole with the naming of escort pilots and tracking crews for the important job.
Santa’s escort pilots from 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., are Capt Sébastien Tremblay-Verreault, from Chicoutimi, Que., and Capt Frédéric Létourneau, from Rimouski, Que. The CF-188 Hornet crew chiefs supporting them are MCpl Scott Rose, from St. John’s, N.L., and Cpl Steeven Cantin, from Loretteville, Que.
Santa’s escort pilots from 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., are LCol William Radiff, from Lindsay, Ont., and Maj Denis Bandet, from Regina, Sask. The CF-188 Hornet crew chiefs supporting them are MCpl Joshua Correia, from Georgetown, Ont., and Corporal Kurt Attwood, from Cold Lake, Alta.
Santa Trackers from 21 Aerospace Control and Warning Squadron’s Delta Flight, 22 Wing North Bay, Ont., include Capt Jim Mersereau, mission crew commander, from Fredericton, N.B., United States Air Force (USAF) LCol Michael Harmon, commander, 2 Detachment, First Air Force, and MCpl Christian Turcotte, identification supervisor, from Rimouski, Que., whose duty it is to maintain radio contact with Santa and his escort pilots.
“The responsibility of keeping watchful eyes over North American airspace 24/7 rests with our men and women of the Canadian NORAD Region,” said MGen Christian Drouin, the commander of 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region. “It is a duty and honour we hold dearly: to ensure Santa’s safe passage through North America so he can deliver joy and goodwill this holiday season.”
This year CANR dedicates this mission to the memory of Capt Thomas McQueen, who escorted Santa in 2014.
About NORAD Tracks Santa
The NORAD Tracks Santa website is now live. It is available in eight languages and features Santa’s North Pole Village, which includes a holiday countdown, games, activities and more.
Official NORAD Tracks Santa apps are also available in the Windows, Apple and Google Play stores, so parents and children can countdown the days until Santa’s launch on their smart phones and tablets. Tracking opportunities are also offered on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Google+. Santa followers just need to type “@noradsanta” into each search engine to get started.
Starting at 2:01 a.m. EST on Dec. 24, website visitors can watch Santa make preparations for his flight. NORAD’s “Santa Cams” will stream videos on the website as Santa makes his way over various locations. Then, at 6 a.m. EST, trackers worldwide can speak with a live phone operator to inquire about Santa’s whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com.
Any time on Dec. 24, Windows phone users can ask Cortana for Santa’s location, and OnStar subscribers can press the OnStar button in their vehicles to locate Santa.
