Islander Jeremy Banks tracking Santa for NORAD

Children on P.E.I. can sleep through Christmas Eve this year, knowing Master Cpl. Jeremy Banks has their backs.

The Islander is helping guide Santa around the world from NORAD's headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"It's great talking to kids all over the world, telling them where Santa is and how he gets around the world so quickly," said Banks.

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The organization tracking everything in the skies from missiles and jets to spaceships has a special visitor to keep an eye on Christmas Eve.

"There's about seven different rooms with projectors and phones, it looks like a big call centre," said Banks who timed his shift on Christmas Eve to be around the same time kids on P.E.I. should be getting ready for bed.

Where's Santa right now? And when will he be at my house?

Over 23 hours a total of 1,500 volunteers will answer over 140,000 phone calls and respond to 3,000 emails.

Banks is in the final year of his deployment with NORAD. His job is to monitor military computer networks across North America.

Last year he was part of the NORAD Tracks Santa Facebook page, which has 1.6 million fans and counting.

This year, he requested to answer phones, taking calls from children calls he said he'll never forget.

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"I will never forget that, it definitely speaks to the impact we have on kids," he said.

The two most common questions asked on Christmas Eve?

"Where's Santa right now? And when will he be at my house?" said Banks.

And whileNORAD can keep track of where Santa's sleigh is, St. Nick won't tell the military brass the exact time he'll be at somebody's house. Banks and the other volunteers simply tell the kids he's near and it's time to go to bed.

Technology helps kids follow along

Kids can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) anytime after 7 a.m. on Dec. 24, or they can send an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com.

Over the years NORAD had adopted new technologies for tracking Santa. Kids can nowfollow along on social media sites, watch YouTube updates or follow on Instagram.

This year, young people can even ask the OnStar system in their parent's vehicle where Santa is.

As for Santa himself, he's still using one special reindeer with a red nose to navigate the globe.

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