Update at 11:50 a.m. (local): Santa is wheels up.  Santa’s Traveling Workshop Operation Christmas Miracle is headed to Washington state later today and California tomorrow.

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Update at 10:20 a.m. (local): the briefing has successfully concluded.  Santa has been told he’ll get number one priority in the skies.  He’s now visiting more children here at Peterson Air Force Base before heading to the West Coast.  After Operation Christmas Miracle concludes, he’s headed to the North Pole until his Christmas Eve mission.

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Santa is paying a visit to Peterson Air Force Base where he’ll get a briefing conducted by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Every year NORAD tracks Santa Claus as he journeys around the world on Christmas Eve.

Today’s air mission brief is slated for 9:00 a.m. MT and will last approximately 15 minutes. High ranking military officials as well as children are expected to attend. The briefing will have three components, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information, weather and air mission details (i.e., the route, timeline, safety, emergency procedures and handling of threats, such as what to do if he crosses paths with the Grinch, Scrooge or awake children).

After the briefing, Santa will make his way to child development centers at Peterson AFB. Once he departs the Colorado Springs area today aboard Santa 1, the man in the red suit will head to Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base in Washington and Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California.  He’ll then jet back to the North Pole for final Christmas Eve preps.  His coast-to-coast test flight this week is organized by Santa’s Traveling Workshop, a non-profit charity.  The Workshop’s Operation Christmas Miracle has taken Santa to Wounded Warriors in hospitals and rehabilitation centers as well as service men and women and their families at military bases.