He spent time with the Taliban, the Northern Alliance[2] (pre-9/11), the CIA during the hunt for Osama bin Laden[3][4] and with both insurgents and Blackwater security contractors during the war in Iraq.
Pelton's survival and political guide The World's Most Dangerous Places, provides information for people who work and travel in high-risk zones, and is a New York Times bestseller.
The school is acclaimed for a wilderness curriculum featuring one thousand mile canoe trips, snowshoe marathons, raising animals, and advanced study of Latin, history, and religion.
[20] Pelton licensed data-based travel content to companies such as Microsoft and IBM, selling his businesses to turn full-time to conflict coverage in the mid-1990s.
[22][23] In January 2003, Pelton was on assignment for National Geographic Adventure in the Darién Gap when he and two 22-year-old travelers were abducted by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.
He was involved in negotiations with the President of Equatorial Guinea regarding the early release of coup plotters Simon Mann and Nick du Toit, who had worked for Executive Outcomes in the mid-1990s.
[30][34] Controversy arose when a Defense Department official who was operating an unauthorized spy ring[35] allegedly diverted funds that were intended to pay the open-source project.
[30][36][31] According to Jordan, the venture never had a "full-fledged launch" into offering a premium subscription service to private clients, and due to insufficient funding, remained a free website[36] until it became inactive in August 2009.
With assistance from around 140 locals and western editors, Pelton provided ground coverage of al-Shabaab, pirates, governments, contractors, intelligence groups, and regular people on a 24/7 information website.
[citation needed] Pelton has written about contemporary private military contractors, as well as his experiences with US Special Forces in the opening weeks in the War on Terror.
[45][46][47][48] Of Licensed to Kill, one reviewer summarized: "He is a journalistic story-quilt of characters engaged as private security contractors and mercenaries in a variety of settings from Afghanistan to Equatorial Guinea...
and terrorism expert Peter Bergen ("A rollicking read that takes the reader inside the murky world of military contractors—from the craggy passes of the Afghan-Pakistan border to the extreme danger of Baghdad's airport road, to the diamond fields of Africa.
[citation needed] In May 2014, Vice magazine released a multimedia event[56] which featured Pelton traveling[57] with photographer Tim Freccia and with a former Lost Boy, Machot Lap Thiep,[58] to South Sudan at the height of the fighting.
Wired magazine described it as "At a time when comics are still dominated by busty babes, zombies, and superheroes wearing tights, Pelton and Tucci's gritty, journalistic portrayal of America's fighters-for-hire is a profound departure.
"[63] Publishers Weekly described the book: "While that's a prime setup for endless scenes of action-movie carnage, the narrative instead focuses on the men as professionals and what makes them put their lives on the line for a daily payout around $600.
"[64] In order to gain access, Pelton has spent an unusual amount of time living with, traveling with, and documenting some of the world's well-known insurgent groups.
Pelton travels to meet rebel leaders in Afghanistan, Chechnya, the Philippines, Colombia, West Africa, and even militias in the United States.
After the publication of his book "The World's Most Dangerous Places" by Fielding Worldwide and then Harper Collins Pelton was a popular talk show guest.
[citation needed] The Crescent and the Cross: Pelton's first documentary for Discovery takes viewers to the Philippines where he tracks down the country's most wanted terrorist, visits a crucifixion, stays with the MILF/BIAF in Mindanao, and becomes the first to film a Marxist rebel group on the island of Negros.
As conditions worsen the film lays out the horror of starvation and war with the help of James Brabazon, who had journeyed with the rebels a year earlier.
Pelton documents the Battle of Qali Jangi and its horrific aftermath and gives the world his exclusive interview with John Walker Lindh and an inside look at how secret special operations teams work.
Pelton eventually chose to stay along the Syrian border with insurgents and later document evidence of mass graves around the country, traveling in a red Bentley previously owned by Uday Hussein.
[citation needed] Pelton would return to Iraq in late 2004 to live and work with a Blackwater USA security team running Route Irish in Baghdad while researching his book Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror.
Pelton provides unique access to several companies like Blackwater, Reed, Triple Canopy, and others in this human look at the dangerous job of protecting people and cargo in Iraq.
The documentary voiced by Gerald Butler also features Pelton's exclusive footage and interviews discussing his time with mercenaries and private security contractors in Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
[citation needed] Saving South Sudan: Pelton's documentary for Vice was the first time the White Army had been filmed in combat and the first interview with Riek Machar and his wife after they fled to the bush.