Governor Scott Walker orders “Operation Santa” for Christmas Eve

State preparing to
welcome Santa Claus

Madison – Governor Walker today
directed the Wisconsin National Guard and Wisconsin Emergency Management to
assist with a very important mission Tuesday night – to help Santa as he makes
his way through the Badger State on Christmas Eve.

“I want to make
sure that Santa has everything he needs—from food for the reindeer to the latest
weather reports,” said Governor Walker. “The Wisconsin National Guard and
Wisconsin Emergency Management are ready to respond to ensure Santa is able to
deliver presents to all the good boys and girls across Wisconsin.”

“Santa Claus’s
mission is a no-fail mission, and the Wisconsin National Guard and Wisconsin
Emergency Management are ready to assist,” said Major General Donald Dunbar, the
Adjutant General of Wisconsin. “We’ve been helping Santa ever since we were
established, and we remain ready for this important mission.”

A KC-135 Stratotanker
from Milwaukee’s 128th Air Refueling Wing will meet up with Santa and his team
of reindeer in the sky over Lake Superior and will provide carrots and water for
the reindeer and power bars and cocoa for Santa.

As a precaution, the
147th Aviation Battalion of Blackhawk helicopters have been tasked to
pre-position critical supplies such as reindeer feed and provide extra lift
support should the reindeer have problems pulling the heavy sleigh. The 120th
Field Artillery Battalion will be providing illumination support if Santa
encounters bad weather and needs help landing to deliver his toys.

Wisconsin Emergency
Management will keep a close eye on the weather and will provide Santa with
updated storm reports.

In addition,
“ReadyWisconsin” will post updates on Twitter and Facebook about Santa’s
location as he travels across the state. Go to ReadyWisconsin facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/ReadyWisconsin?ref=hl and on Twitter
at https://twitter.com/ReadyWisconsin Use the hashtags
#SantaAlert and #OperationSanta to track the Tweets and interact on
Twitter.

The Wisconsin National
Guard will also coordinate their efforts with the North American Aerospace
Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD tracks Santa’s route across the United States
and posts updates at their “Santa Tracker” website, http://www.noradsanta.org .