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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp..md
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---
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title: GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.
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aliases:
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- GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.
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- GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp
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- GeoMiliTech Consultants Corporation
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- Geomilitech Consultants Corporation
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- GeoMiliTech
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- Geomilitech
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- GMT
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created: 2026-10-08
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updated: 2026-10-08
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category: "Arms Dealers & Brokers"
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tags:
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- Organization
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- GeoMiliTech
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- IranContra
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- Contras
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- ArmsTrade
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- BarbaraStudley
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- JohnSinglaub
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summary: "Washington arms-trading company created by Barbara Studley that handled a 1985 Soviet-bloc arms shipment to the Nicaraguan contras and, in 1986, quoted weapons to CIA Director Casey over John Singlaub's signature as consultant."
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location: "Washington, D.C."
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relations:
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- type: founded
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with: "[[Barbara Studley]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1984
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fn: 2
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[John Singlaub]]"
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reverse: true
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role: "consultant"
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start: 1986
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fn: 8
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- type: participant_in
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with: "[[Iran-Contra Affair]]"
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start: 1985
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end: 1987
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fn: 7
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---
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GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp. (abbreviated GMT) was a Washington arms-trading company, with offices at 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300, that [[Barbara Studley]] created after moving to the capital as a radio broadcaster; [[John Singlaub]] signed its correspondence as "Consultant." It handled a 1985 shipment of Soviet-bloc arms to the [[Contras]], proposed a conduit for such weapons to [[Oliver North]] and [[William J. Casey]], and is named in the 1987 deposition record of the congressional Iran-Contra committees.[^1][^2]
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### Formation
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The Hartford Courant wrote in 1992 that Studley, a former conservative radio talk-show host, created GeoMiliTech "to break into the arms business."[^1] [[Daniel O. Graham]], a retired Army lieutenant general and head of the [[High Frontier]] campaign, testified on May 26, 1987 that he met Studley around 1977 when she was a broadcaster in [[Miami]] and invited him onto her radio talk show, that she later came to Washington (committee counsel dated her arrival to about June 1984), and that all he knew of GeoMiliTech was that she ran it and that it was "an international trading firm in high-tech items."[^2] Graham said he took no part in forming the firm, received no money from it and held no title in it.[^2]
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### The June to July 1985 shipment
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The Hartford Courant reported that Singlaub and Studley arranged a private shipment of Soviet-bloc rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers to the contras in the summer of 1985, which it put at $5 million.[^1] Studley's memorandum to North dated October 30, 1985 refers to a shipment that left on June 20, 1985.[^3] Graham's questioner stated that the Studley and Werner Glatt arms transaction was consummated in May 1985 with delivery in July, and Graham agreed that it was early in 1985.[^2] The congressional report states that a purchase Singlaub arranged for [[Adolfo Calero]] and the FDN through a European arms dealer arrived in Central America on July 8, 1985, and the Washington Post reported in 1987 that Singlaub helped the contras buy $5.3 million of East Bloc weapons shipped through [[Honduras]].[^4][^5] Singlaub testified in 1987 that the delivery went from [[Poland]] to Honduras and that Swiss banks handled the transfers.[^1]
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### The Barcella opinion
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The Courant reported that the shipment was cleared by a legal opinion from [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]], then an assistant United States attorney in Washington. Barcella said that someone in government came to him, that he contacted the State Department's Office of Munitions Control and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that "I orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," and, asked why the person came to him, that there was "a very logical reason that is none of your business." The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In a deposition taken by the New Haven lawyer [[William M. Bloss]] in 1991, Studley said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and "Larry Barcella signed it"; her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] Studley was not called to testify before the congressional committees.[^1]
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### Werner Glatt and the Graham deposition
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Graham testified that he recommended [[Werner Glatt]], whom he called a combination of a sheep farmer and arms trader with farms in Virginia and Scotland, to Studley as an honest broker; he said that he had talked briefly with Colonel [[Norman Blaylock]] about Glatt, that he knew not all arms dealers were honest, and that he did not want to see "Jack and Barbara Studley squander other people's money." He said he gave Glatt's name to Studley only and never to Singlaub, arranged a lunch for Studley and Glatt at a Washington hotel (he thought the Carlton), stayed about ten minutes, and was never in the same room with Glatt and Singlaub.[^2] Graham added that he had told Casey at Langley in late 1983 or 1984, in a meeting on the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]], that Casey would be better off dealing with Glatt than with most arms dealers.[^2]
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Graham testified that Studley told him after the delivery that people who were not part of the deal showed up when the ship arrived; the questioner asked "This would be Mario Dellamico?" and the transcript records Graham answering "Okay," and then saying he did not know their names. Graham said that this sounded strange enough that he told her to inform Casey and arranged a meeting among himself, Studley and Casey at Langley toward the end of 1985 (counsel suggested December 20, 1985), at which Studley left documents including the bill of lading; Casey said he would look into it and admitted no connection to anyone she named.[^2] Singlaub testified in 1987 that he, not Graham, set up the December 1985 meeting between Casey and Studley.[^1]
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### The October 30, 1985 memorandum, Ron Martin and Mario Dellamico
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Graham Exhibit 1 is a memorandum from Studley to North dated October 30, 1985, which opens with a telephone call received at 4:00 a.m. on October 29 from her source, identified only as "W." It states that "W" was questioned about a shipment that went out on June 20, 1985 and denied that his ship was intended for the contras; that a man named Mario Dellamico, described as working for the arms dealer Ron Martin, had walked in two weeks earlier asking for help in selling Martin's company's arms to the contras and was told absolutely not because it would be against "their law"; that Dellamico then handed over a copy of GeoMiliTech's packing list showing the receipt of the shipment, an itemized inventory, the ship's name and date of departure, and the signature of its representative; that "W" said to tell North the ship was the first of five he was expecting, and that the ship later sailed; and that "Martin's company still has copies of our documents." It asks North to stop Martin and Dellamico and closes: "General John K. Singlaub has been advised of this information."[^3]
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Graham said he had heard Martin's name in connection with "the discrepancies or problems involved in the landing of that cargo," that friends in Miami told him Martin was an arms dealer, and that he had not heard of threats made against Singlaub by Dellamico on Martin's behalf. Asked whether Martin or Dellamico had a relationship with the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], he answered that he had heard "nothing but speculation."[^2] The Independent Counsel's report describes Ron Martin as a Miami-based dealer accused of consorting with drug-runners; the congressional report quotes North that Martin was "setting up [a] munitions 'supermarket'" in Central America and that Casey told North there should be no further transactions with the broker until the source of the money for the stockpile was resolved.[^4][^6]
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### The Singlaub-Studley conduit memorandum
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A memorandum prepared by Studley and found in North's safe proposed a "conduit" for a "continuous flow of Soviet weapons and technology" in support of "Freedom Fighters" in Nicaragua, Angola, Cambodia, Ethiopia and elsewhere, through a three-way trade that would let the United States dispense arms without "the consent or awareness of the Department of State or Congress." The congressional report calls it the Singlaub-Studley plan, states that Singlaub presented it to North and Casey in 1985, and records North acknowledging receipt and dismissing it; [[George Shultz]] called it "a piece of junk."[^7] Graham testified that he had never seen the document and had never discussed the concept with Studley or Singlaub.[^2]
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### The 1986 quotation and the Casey letter
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Graham Exhibit 2 contains a letter on GeoMiliTech letterhead, addressed "Dear Bill" to Casey and signed by Singlaub as "Major General, U.S. Army (RET)" and "Consultant," which committee counsel dated to August 1986. It encloses a list "Quoted 28 July 1986" including SA-7 sets, 60 12.7mm machine guns at 9,380 each, 20 twin-mount 14.5mm machine guns at 34,000 each, 300 RPK rifles, 60mm and 82mm mortars, RPG-7 launchers and 10,000 AKMS rifles at 185 each, and the list is marked "NO EUC REQUIRED." The letter says the items were developed in conjunction with a member of the NSC aware of the needs of the United Nicaraguan Opposition, that congressional funds would not be available until after September, and that a Swiss bank would lend for six to twelve months against a letter of credit from Casey's bank.[^8] Graham said he had no knowledge of the matter and had not discussed it with Casey.[^2]
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### Robert Schweitzer and 1986-1987 contracts
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Committee counsel stated in the Graham deposition that Lieutenant General [[Robert Schweitzer]] was hired by GeoMiliTech in late August or early September 1986, was interviewed by Singlaub, met North with Singlaub on or about December 2, 1986 on company matters, and left in early 1987; Graham said he had no role in the hiring and that Studley had come to have little confidence in Schweitzer's advice. Counsel also asked Graham about efforts by [[Ray Cline]] in 1987 to obtain CIA contracts for the company, which Graham said he knew nothing of.[^2] [[Charles Allen]], who became National Intelligence Officer for Counterterrorism in October 1986, was asked whether he discussed with Schweitzer his employment with "Geomilitech Consultants Corporation" or Schweitzer's efforts to obtain covert procurement contracts for it; he answered no to both.[^9]
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Graham Exhibit 3 holds Studley's papers on the Pia Vesta, a vessel loaded with arms and seized at the [[Panama Canal]] in 1986, including notes of conversations with Dan Cummings and David Duncan; the notes state that Duncan had been to the White House and met a person named Vince at the NSC, and that General [[Manuel Noriega]] had agreed to release the shipment.[^10] A letter to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]] dated April 28, 1987, from the Washington firm of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]] on the "Barbara F. Studley/GMT" matter, refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses Studley's memorandum on North.[^11]
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### Claims from Ari Ben-Menashe
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[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 contra deal brokered through GeoMiliTech was itemized at $3,242,000 paid to the [[Ora Group]], against $5 million that he says the company's books showed received from the American side, a difference of about $1.76 million.[^12]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Hartford Courant, "Head of Iran Hostage Probe Linked to Arms Deal," May 29, 1992. https://www.courant.com/1992/05/29/head-of-iran-hostage-probe-linked-to-arms-deal/
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[^2]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987 (Senate Select Committee, Hart Senate Office Building; examined by Charles Kerr), Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair (H. Rept. 100-433, S. Rept. 100-216), Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
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[^3]: Graham Exhibit 1 (memorandum from B. F. Studley to Lt. Col. Oliver North, October 30, 1985, with an attached report of Studley's agent), in the Graham deposition, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
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[^4]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, ch. 2, pp. 50-51 (HathiTrust full view, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059173017837367&seq=74).
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[^5]: Benjamin Weiser, "Singlaub Suggested an Earlier Fund Diversion," Washington Post, March 20, 1987 (date as printed on the clipping); CIA CREST CIA-RDP90-00965R000707040014-2, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00965r000707040014-2
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[^6]: Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, vol. I, Part I, "The Underlying Facts" (Ron Martin passage). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/part_i.htm
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[^7]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, ch. 15, "The Diversion," p. 269 and note (HathiTrust full view, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059173017837367&seq=293).
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[^8]: Graham Exhibit 2 (cover memorandum from Studley to North and a letter from John K. Singlaub to William Casey with enclosed list quoted July 28, 1986, bearing the GeoMiliTech letterhead, 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300), in the Graham deposition, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234; the scan is partly illegible).
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[^9]: Deposition of Charles E. Allen, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 1 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0228), examination on Robert L. Schweitzer and "Geomilitech Consultants Corporation."
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[^10]: Graham Exhibit 3 (Studley papers on the Pia Vesta, with notes of conversations with [[Dan Cummings]] and [[David Duncan]]), in the Graham deposition, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
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[^11]: Letter from the firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee, April 28, 1987, "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT," in the Graham deposition exhibits, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
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[^12]: Ari Ben-Menashe, Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network (Sheridan Square, 1992). Sole source for the itemization; the figures are as reported on the Ora Group page of this vault.
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