‘Is this Santa Claus?’ A misprinted ad and a good-hearted colonel sparked NORAD’s Christmas tradition December 24, 2020 Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, traveling with Operation Santa Claus, alight from an HC-130J Combat King II with the 211th Rescue Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, after landing in St. Michael, Alaska, on Dec. 5, 2017. Operation Santa Claus is an Alaska National Guard annual community outreach program that provides Christmas gifts, books, backpacks filled with school supplies, fresh fruit and sundaes to youngsters in rural communities. (2nd Lt. Marisa Lindsay/Army National Guard) Col. Harry Shoup was sitting in his office in early December 1955 when the red phone on his desk rang.