He was born on 14 May 14, 1874 in Fort Benton, Montana to Thaddeus Sanford Kirtland and Ann Virginia Carter. He married Helen K. Parker. Kirtland joined the Army in 1898 and was commissioned on August 1, 1901 as a second lieutenant in the infantry. In 1911 he was transferred to the United States Army Air Service and placed in command of the U.S. Aviation School at College Park, Maryland from April to June 1911, and served in a number of capacities with the Signal Corps Colonel Kirtland was reactivated in advance of World War II at age 65. He served at Moffet Field.