Col. Harry Shoup Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the operations officer at North American Aerospace Defense Command’s precursor organization, answered a wrong-number call on Dec. 24, 1955, and began the tradition of NORAD tracking Santa. SHARE: Download: Full Size (0.78 MB) Tags: NORAD, Air Force Credit: DOD courtesy photo VIRIN: 131219-F-FC540-002Y.JPG Photo Gallery