Henry A. Crumpton


Henry "Hank" A. Crumpton, was a Central Intelligence Agency operations officer for 24 years, rising to deputy director of the Counterterrorism Center and then heading the CIA's National Resources Division, which focuses on operations in the United States. He was appointed by President George W. Bush as Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State with the rank of Ambassador-at-Large on August 2, 2005. He is the author of The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service. He founded and is CEO of the business intelligence firm Crumpton Group LLC.

Early life and education

Crumpton grew up in rural Georgia. 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. He attended St. John's in Santa Fe, New Mexico, then transferred to the University of New Mexico where he earned a BA in political science. After graduating he traveled in Asia, the Soviet Union and Western Europe. He has a master's in international relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, where he graduated with honors.

Career

In 1981, at the age of 22, Crumpton became the youngest trainee in his class at the CIA. He began his career at the CIA in the Africa division in Liberia in the 1980s. In 1998-99 he served as deputy chief in the FBI’s International Terrorism Operations Section, while on loan from CIA. 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. He was involved with Afghanistan until 2002 when he moved on to calmer assignments. He was the deputy director of the Counter-Terrorism Center from 1999 to 2001, and head of one of the agency's most secret divisions, the National Resources Division, from 2003 to 2005. As head of the National Resources Division he hired current CIA Director Gina Haspel as his deputy. He also was the head of the US covert response in Afghanistan to the September 11, 2001 attack, masterminding the 90-day overthrow of the Taliban. He worked for the CIA for a total of 24 years, served as State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador-at-large, and retired from government service in 2007.
In 2008 Crumpton founded and is the CEO of the international advisory and business development firm Crumpton Group LLC. As CEO of Crumpton Group, he has attended the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference. He is the CEO of Crumpton Ventures, an investment group specializing in telecommunications, cyber-security, unmanned aerial systems, and more.
Crumpton is the CEO of TV/film production company Aardwolf Creative LLC. Together with his business partner, former CIA analyst Rodney Faraon, he was an executive producer for NBC's “State of Affairs” starring Katherine Heigl.

Author

In 2012 Crumpton published a memoir about his 24 years working for the CIA entitled, The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service. The book is currently being developed as a movie titled Aperture.
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.

Books featuring Crumpton

He is the “Hank” featured in Gary C. Schroen’s book: First In: An Insider’s Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Bush at War by Bob Woodward. Crumpton has also been identified as the “Henry” in the September 11 Commission Report.

Awards and honors