Volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command are monitoring Santa Claus as he makes his storybook Christmas Eve flight. (AP)  Tracking santa is a tradition that spans generations for the Hines family.  It all started four years ago, when Pat Hines, a retired Air Force intelligence specialist from Phoenix, volunteered with his daughter Sharon Nolan, of Colorado Springs, Colo., to staff a hotline that helps kids pinpoint Saint Nick’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve.  The program, a product of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, has been around since 1958. Civilians and service members alike field the calls each year at Colorado’s Peterson Air Force Base, where NORAD is located.  After his first experience with the program, Pat convinced his granddaughter Stephanie, an Air Force ROTC cadet at Northern Colorado University, to volunteer the next year. And last year, Stephanie’s sister, Shannon, and her father, Shaun, both of Colorado Springs, decided to join in the fun.  They all plan to do it again on Wednesday.  “I really enjoy it when they come home,” Shaun said. “If this is what draws them back for Christmas, I’ll continue signing them up.”  Shaun is a system engineer with Verizon Communications, one of about 60 companies that takes part in the annual Santa-tracking operation. The organization provides a toll-free hotline for the program, plus call-handling technology, Internet service and volunteers.  NORAD’s Santa tracking began in 1955 as a result of a mistake. Sears ran a newspaper ad that year encouraging kids to calls Santa on Christmas Eve, but the company printed the wrong number. Anyone who dialed Father Christmas that night ended up reaching the command center, which was then the Continental Air Defense Command.  U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, who was in charge of the station that night, decided to be a good sport about the whole thing. He told his operators to report Saint Nick’s location to every child who called the line.  These days, 40 operators at a time staff the phones from 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve until 3 a.m. on Christmas, with each group working two-hour shifts. Last year, the call center handled about 117,000 calls and roughly 9,600 e-mails.  Volunteers provide more than just Santa’s coordinates. They can also recite fun “facts,” such as the weight of Santa’s reindeer-driven sleigh as measured in gumdrops, or his distance from a callers’ doorsteps in candy canes and lollipops.  “It’s always interesting when a kid calls and you say, ‘You need to go to bed right now’” because Santa’s close, Stephanie said.  The operators work with a script, but no cheat sheet could possibly cover all the questions that curious children come up with.  “I get a lot of kids who ask if I’m an elf and if I have the pointiest ears,” Stephanie said. “Naturally, I go along with it.”  Many of the callers inevitably want to speak directly with Santa, but he’s always too busy. Makes sense considering his Christmas Eve delivery duties, but how convenient.  NORAD claims to follow red-nosed Rudolph using “satellite systems, high-powered radars and jet fighters.” Hopefully the pilots don’t fly too close to the reindeer, especially with their afterburners turned on.  The Hines family said it plans to volunteer at the call center for years to come.  Stephanie, who is on track to become an Air Force officer after she graduates from college in May, said she’ll find the time even after her military career begins. “I’ll have leave, and I’ll definitely do it again if my dad can get me on the list,” she said.  Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, gave an update on North American preparations for Santa's Christmas flight during the briefing on Friday, saying it sounds like, "they are very ready for Santa." (AP)  Josh Hicks covers the federal government and anchors the Federal Eye blog. He reported for newspapers in the Detroit and Seattle suburbs before joining the Post as a contributor to Glenn Kessler’s Fact Checker blog in 2011.
Members of the Hines family have volunteered with the NORAD Tracks Santa call center for the past four years, providing Saint Nick's coordinates for kids who just have to know.