Sturtevant grew up in North Gorham, Maine, and was graduated for Gorham High School in 1978. He began his fire-fighting career with four years in the United States Air Force. He then moved to California in 1982 where he continued his fire-fighting career as a Captain and then Battalion Chief of Operations with Southern California Edison's San Onofre Fire Department. In 1987 he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, were he spent four years with the Tennessee Valley Authority as Fire Protection Specialist and then Senior Instructor. He earned a bachelor degree from Tusculum College, Greenville, Tennessee, in 1988. In the summer of 1989, he began working for Chattanooga State Technical Community College (CSTCC) as the Coordinator of Fire Science Technology. In 1993 he earned a Master Degree in Public Administration online bachelor degree at West Texas A&M University.