North American Aerospace Defense Command is preparing for its upcoming Christmas Eve Santa Claus escort, outfitting Canadian CF-18s with “SantaCams” and preparing pilots for specialized training for the high-profile escort mission. The tradition runs back to US Air Force Continental Air Defense Command, which started the program in 1955. NORAD provides live updates of the Santa Track on its Web site. Last year, officials say, the Web site got 912 million hits from 181 countries. Volunteers at the NORAD operations center took some 55,000 phone calls and 35,000 e-mails.
SMC boss Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson, speaking May 12 during a Mitchell Institute Space Power Forum, said strengthening ties with allies is increasingly important in both realizing “big-time” cost savings and speeding up the delivery of operational capability. In April, an SMC team went to Japan and “conducted successful…