Following service on the battleship North Dakota and armored cruiser Pennsylvania, Kidd became the Aide and Flag Secretary to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, the first of his many flagstaff assignments.

He was the executive officer of the battleship Utah in 1925–1926, then commanded the Navy transport Vega until becoming the captain of the port at Cristóbal, Panama Canal Zone from 1927 to 1930.

After three years at the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., he was the commander of Destroyer Squadron One, Scouting Force, in 1935–1936, stationed in Long Beach, California.

RADM William R. Furlong, commander Battle Forces Pacific was on board his flagship, the minelayer USS Oglala.

U.S. Navy salvage divers located his Naval Academy ring fused to a bulkhead on Arizona's bridge.

For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese Forces on December 7, 1941.