He was a microbacteriologist, and worked at the Bacteriological Laboratory of the Norwegian Army before World War II. When Germany invaded and occupied Norway in 1940, the laboratory was closed. Kvittingen fled the country to conduct resistance work abroad. In London he worked with medicinal services for Norwegians in exile. Among others, he contributed to drastically improve the treatment of venereal diseases in seamen, reducing the convalescence from months to weeks.