It's High Summer In Chile, Where The IAS Is Jumping Next Month

We wish we'd had more notification of this. But here's the deal: if you're a military-trained parachutist, you still have one day to sign up to go jump in Chile with the International Airborne Society. The deadline's February 20th, and honestly, we got the email at 2050 on February 18th (that's 8:50 PM to all you civilian "legs" out there).

The IAS tour leaves Miami on March 26th and returns to Miami on April 9th. It costs $2875. That includes airfare, lodging and meals, as well as three jumps -- with the Army Commandos, the Navy/Marines, and the Air Force of the South American country.

The Army jump is on land. The other services' jumps are water jumps -- quite a thrill if you haven't done it before (or if, like me, you have). The reward for the jump, apart from hanging out with some similar-minded military parachutists from all corners of the world, is a certificate and a set of jump wings from each service. (In fact, I first learned of the IAS when a guy showed up at a Class A uniform inspection with a Russian jump badge on).

In between jumps you'll get familiarization training, and you'll also get in some military sightseeing. Chile offers one remarkable institution that I do not believe has a parallel on any other continent: the Military Equestrian School. South American officers still firmly believe that horsemanship builds character, in the same way the US Coast Guard believes that working aloft in a sailing ship does.

The International Airborne Society was founded at Fort Bragg, NC 1992 and is now based in Tennessee. It is a veterans group with two twists: while it's restricted to members and veterans of parachute units, it's open to all ranks and all nations -- even past and present enemies of the US. It's about the international brotherhood of parachuting.

Director Bernie Hasenbein says that the members are "About your average kind of people... with a jumping problem." The IAS slogan, picking up on a cocky phrase used by jumpmasters worldwide, is "The World is Our Drop Zone!" In their case, it's true.

Being a skydiver alone is not enough. Jumpers must have graduated a military static-line parachuting course (any military, anywhere on Earth). They also have to get a doctor's certification that their health permits it, and buying insurance is a Real Good Idea. (My last parachute jump, I fractured both calcaneuses -- that's "heels" in English. Accidents happen).

In the past, IAS tours have gone just about everywhere that parachuting is possible, even wartime Afghanistan. Photos on the website document past visits -- and jumps -- in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Tunisia, Slovakia, India, Belarus: it reads like a shelf of Lost Planet guides.

It's also a great excuse to go jetting off to a foreign land to get another shiny badge. Who needs a reason when you have an excuse?

Each tour is kept small, which helps maintains good relations with the hosts. The Chilean tour is limited to 20 participants, and with one day left, 17 are committed. If you can't commit to a March-April tour on one day's notice ("Honey, I'm going to Chile...I'll fix the sink when I get back" may be a non-starter) you can check out what IAS has been doing, and sign up for email notification of their next adventure.

FMI: www.airbornesociety.com