Santa Brings Festivities to Kandahar

PHOTO CREDIT: Darah Hansen/Canwest News Service

December 24, 2008


KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Santa Claus touched down at Kandahar Air Field Wednesday and spread some Christmas cheer to some of the 2,500 Canadian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.
Troops on the base enjoyed a festive celebration and in addition to receiving treats from the man in the red suit, they were entertained by Canadian comedian Mike Macdonald and Ottawa singer Kathleen Edwards.
"I'm very honoured to have been asked to come here," Edwards told the crowd of soldiers. "I've had a most incredible time."
The troops, some donning Santa hats and other festive accessories along with their uniforms, enjoyed the festivities.
"The last couple of days have been busy for us," said Capt. John Pilon."The next few hours we'll relax."
The party provided some laughs and a few hours of revelry but it's hard to be away from home for Christmas, one soldier said.
"It sucks," said Master Cpl. Tom Dillon. "It's one of those things you do for your country."
Earlier in the day, Canadian soldiers handed out gifts to Afghan children near the base. An anxious crowd of local Afghans crowded around two military trucks and received toys, school supplies, stuffed animals, clothing, hats, scarves and toiletries.
"It gets cold around here at night this time of year," said Cpl. Lisa Tarianos, one of the soldiers involved in the exercise. "We thought we could try and get out there in an orderly fashion but it didn't work so well," she said with a smile.
She also spoke about the difficulty of being so far away from Canada at Christmas.
"It doesn't feel like Christmas," she said. "We don't have anything Christmas-like here, so we were trying to do something that felt good. We were trying to make it feel like Christmas by giving and doing what we can."
Chief Warrant Officer Mike Hayes, who was in charge of the gift delivery, said it was his first Christmas away from home in his 32-year career. He said the Afghan children were excited to receive the gifts.
"The children were just loving it," he said. "We just happen to pick Christmas Eve," he said. "We knew we had a lot of supplies, we thought it was a good time for us to do it, so we brought them out today on Christmas Eve."

As Christmas gets closer, the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region has put the finishing touches on plans to track and escort Santa Claus when he visits Canada by naming four CF-18 fighter pilots as his official escorts. Major Kirk Soroka and Captain Dan Walters of 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta., and Captain Benoit Bouchard and Captain Matthew Maurice of 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec, will take on the responsibility of welcoming Santa when he arrives in Canada on his annual Christmas Eve journey, and escorting him safely through Canadian airspace.Special NORAD SantaCams, positioned around the world, will take photos and video of Santa and his sleigh as he journeys around the world. The SantaCams instantly download the photo and video imagery so that it may be viewed by children worldwide on the NORAD Tracks Santa website, www.noradsanta.org, on December 24. All of this information will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese.In coordination with the North Pole, NORAD has been informed that Santa intends to begin his journey at 6 a.m. EST, on Dec. 24. The Canadian Air Defence Sector Operations Centre at 22 Wing in North Bay, Ontario, will alert NORAD when their radars detect Santa approaching North America. Two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets from 3 Wing will welcome Santa as he enters Canadian airspace off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. As Santa flies across Canada from east to west, two CF-18 Hornets from 4 Wing will escort him out of Canadian airspace and turn over escort duties to the Continental U.S. NORAD Region so that he may continue his Yuletide trip.Starting on December 24, children can also receive updates on Santa's Christmas Eve journey by calling the traditional "NORAD Tracks Santa" telephone hotline at 1-877-HI NORAD, or by emailing NORAD. Last year, the NORAD Tracks Santa website received 10,660,838 unique visitors from 212 countries and territories around the world. On Christmas Eve alone, 1,012 "Santa Trackers" answered 94,743 telephone calls and answered 10,326 emails.NORAD is a bi-national United States and Canadian organization, charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. The year 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of NORAD, which is celebrating a half-century of Canadians and Americans working shoulder-to-shoulder in defence of North America. NORAD performs its mission 365 days-per-year, but on Christmas Eve, NORAD performs an additional mission - tracking Santa around the world.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Canadian NORAD Region Names Santa's Escort Pilots

As Christmas gets closer, the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region has put the finishing touches on plans to track and escort Santa Claus when he visits Canada by naming four CF-18 fighter pilots as his official escorts.

Capts. Dave Moar and Craig Sharp of 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., and Capts. Colin Marks and Yannick Jobin of 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., will take on the responsibility of welcoming Santa when he arrives in Canada on his annual Christmas Eve journey, and escorting him safely through Canadian airspace.

The pilots will also take photos and video of Santa and his sleigh using special NORAD SantaCams mounted on their aircraft. The SantaCams instantly download the photo and video imagery so that it may be viewed by children worldwide on the NORAD Tracks Santa website, http://www.noradsanta.org/, on December 24. All of this information will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.

In coordination with the North Pole, NORAD has been informed that Santa intends to begin his journey at 4 a.m. EST, on Dec. 24. The Canadian Air Defence Sector Operations Centre at 22 Wing in North Bay, Ont., will alert NORAD when their radars detect Santa entering Canadian airspace. Two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets from 3 Wing will welcome Santa as he enters Canadian airspace off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. As Santa flies across Canada from east to west, two CF-18 Hornets from 4 Wing will escort him out of Canadian airspace and turn over escort duties to the Continental U.S. NORAD Region so that he may continue his Yuletide trip.Children can also receive updates on Santa's Christmas Eve journey by calling the traditional "NORAD Tracks Santa" telephone hotline at 1-877-HI NORAD, or by emailing NORAD at noradtrackssanta@gmail.com.

Last year, the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center was staffed by more than 750 volunteers on Christmas Eve, who answered nearly 65,000 phone calls and 9,600 emails from children around the world.

NORAD uses a network of ground-based radars, sensors, air-to-air refuelling tankers, and fighter jets to detect, intercept and, if necessary, engage any threats to the continent. NORAD personnel are on duty 24 hours a day protecting North America.

NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center

Beginning at 2:00 am MTN on Christmas Eve, you can track Santa Live as he makes his historic journey around the world! This is exciting, as Santa travels fast and NORAD Santa Cams take photos of Santa and his reindeer!

Download Google Earth in preparation for tracking Santa in 3D on Christmas Eve.