![This photo provided by the Alaska National Guard shows an Alaska Army National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter equipped with two LifeMed flight paramedics and essential medical equipment departing the Army Aviation Operating Facility in Bethel , Alaska en route to Napaskiak during a medevac mission, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.](https://www.militarytimes.com/resizer/v2/J5HDBPPFGRCO3NVMLTXZSZQHEE.jpg?auth=2cd2f968788680da793174b8cb9cd8748d30a209b6726dee94999950c47092e2&width=6720&height=4480)
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![This photo provided by the Alaska National Guard shows an Alaska Army National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter equipped with two LifeMed flight paramedics and essential medical equipment departing the Army Aviation Operating Facility in Bethel , Alaska en route to Napaskiak during a medevac mission, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.](https://www.militarytimes.com/resizer/v2/J5HDBPPFGRCO3NVMLTXZSZQHEE.jpg?auth=2cd2f968788680da793174b8cb9cd8748d30a209b6726dee94999950c47092e2&width=6720&height=4480)
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Marines deliver toys to remote areas of Alaska for Toys for Tots
Marine Corps Reserve troops help deliver toys to children in remote areas of Alaska.
‘Is this Santa Claus?’ A misprinted ad and a good-hearted colonel sparked NORAD’s Christmas tradition
When Col. Harry Shoup answered the hotline from the Pentagon in December 1955, a small boy asked for Santa Claus. What happened next started a beloved, six-decade-plus tradition.
Pandemic prompts Alaska National Guard to scale back Operation Santa Claus
This year’s edition of Operation Santa Claus didn’t have the pomp and grandeur of previous incarnations, but the mission of delivering gifts here and two other largely Alaska Native villages was completed with COVID-19 safety precautions in place.
Virus won’t stop 65th year of NORAD tracking Santa on Christmas Eve
Due to safety restrictions because of COVID-19, however, fewer volunteers allowed at the call center will mean not every child will get a live person when they call 1-877-Hi-NORAD.
By Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press
NORAD’s Canadian troops plan for a different holiday season at Peterson Air Force Base amid pandemic
Canada's quarantine policy has meant that jetting home for a weekend isn’t an option for the Canadian troops at Peterson Air Force Base.
By Tom Roeder, The Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette via the AP