[5] In the early days of the invasion of Afghanistan, Crumpton led CTC Special Operations paramilitary forces in pursuit of the Taliban and al-Qaeda following the September 11 attacks.

At age 16 he left home for Alabama, where he worked nights in a carpet factory while studying for his high school diploma during the day.

[19] In 1998 he investigated the al Qaeda bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 attack of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen.

[25] He worked for the CIA for a total of 24 years,[26] served as State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador-at-large,[17] and retired from government service in 2007.

[26] Together with his business partner, former CIA analyst Rodney Faraon, he was an executive producer for NBC's State of Affairs starring Katherine Heigl.

[32] He contributed two chapters to the book Transforming US Intelligence, edited by Jennifer E. Sims and former CIA operations officer Burton Gerber, published in 2005.