[1][2] He attended the San Diego Army and Navy Academy and graduated from Claremont Men's College with a degree in Civil Government.

Crouch assumed command of United States Army Europe on 19 December 1994, and assumed command of Allied Land Forces Central Europe (LANDCENT) on February 15, 1996, and was its first American since its establishment in 1993.

Crouch, along with retired Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr., were appointed by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen on 19 October 2000, as co-chairmen of the Department of Defense's Cole Commission to investigate the bombing of the USS Cole (DDG-67).

[3] He was also a Senior Mentor with the Leadership Development and Education Program for Sustained Peace at the United States Naval Postgraduate School, served on the board of the Keck Institute for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College,[3] and sat on the advisory board of Isilon Systems.

[4] Crouch's wife, Vicki, also a native of Southern California, attended Scripps College, as did their two daughters, Cami and Cathi.