WEBVTT

00:01.870 --> 00:04.650
- [Gen] Well, good morning everybody! Merry Christmas!

00:04.650 --> 00:05.961
So you want to know where Santa is?

00:05.961 --> 00:08.625
Well, he is over Micronesia, on his way to Japan.

00:08.625 --> 00:11.689
He's already delivered over 500 million gifts.

00:11.689 --> 00:13.439
Can you believe that?

00:15.739 --> 00:18.489
(cheerful music)

00:23.249 --> 00:25.017
It started out in 1955,

00:25.017 --> 00:28.183
^when a young boy dialed a misprinted phone number

00:28.183 --> 00:30.808
^in a local department store advertisement.

00:30.808 --> 00:32.514
^And he called into our command center,

00:32.514 --> 00:34.686
^out here in Colorado Springs,

00:34.686 --> 00:37.548
^and the command center assured the young boy

00:37.548 --> 00:40.447
that Santa would have a safe journey from the North Pole

00:40.447 --> 00:41.740
and all around the world.

00:41.740 --> 00:43.255
And so thus, the tradition was born,

00:43.255 --> 00:46.255
so we've been doing this since 1955.

00:46.574 --> 00:48.727
Well, we start off with radars

00:48.727 --> 00:50.889
and then we follow on with satellites.

00:50.889 --> 00:53.588
You know, Rudolph has got this great, bright nose

00:53.588 --> 00:56.006
that allows us to follow him around the world.

00:56.006 --> 00:58.051
And then, when he comes into North America,

00:58.051 --> 01:00.646
we have F-18's, F-15's, and F-22's

01:00.646 --> 01:03.896
that guides Santa across North America.

01:04.022 --> 01:05.307
It is just wonderful.

01:05.307 --> 01:07.783
Defense of the homeland is a sacred responsibility

01:07.783 --> 01:09.728
and being able to track Santa

01:09.728 --> 01:11.697
allows us to do both of those things.

01:11.697 --> 01:13.654
Right, watch Santa go around the world

01:13.654 --> 01:16.072
but also understand what's happening out there.

01:16.072 --> 01:17.084
And this is a lot of fun.

01:17.084 --> 01:19.608
I have to tell you, our Op-center is buzzing,

01:19.608 --> 01:21.068
just like you see right here,

01:21.068 --> 01:23.013
with people calling from around the world.

01:23.013 --> 01:25.563
So, this is just a great opportunity for us.

01:25.563 --> 01:27.971
I just want to say, Merry Christmas to everybody.

01:27.971 --> 01:30.297
Thank you for participating in this.

01:30.297 --> 01:33.464
It's a great time of the year. Thanks.