Armour first learned to operate heavy machinery as a member of the Teamsters. He was primarily a truck driver at the time, but the wide range of professions operating under the Teamsters Union meant it wasn’t unusual for people to acquire new skills and take on new jobs. His operating skills were put to the test when he joined the Navy and was deployed during World War II.  

“He was preparing runways for planes to land,” Brad explained. “And what you have to remember is, at the time, there were no cabs on the machines. He had no protection. A Daisey bomb detonated under him once and took out all 6 of the machine’s tires, but he was thankfully high enough off the ground that he wasn’t seriously injured.”

When he returned to the states, he joined the International Union of Operating Engineers and worked as an operator in Peoria, Illinois. Armour had operated a variety of machines during the war, but he’d developed a particular love for running motor graders. When he heard Caterpillar, which was based out of Peoria, was looking for an expert motor grader operator, he knew he’d found where he belonged. 

Armour traveled all over the world demonstrating Cat equipment for dealers and their customers.  

“We didn’t have all these product demonstrations back then,” Brad said. “He was the guy. He was the one they sent.” 

Armour stayed with Caterpillar until he was diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 60.  

“Prostate cancer didn’t have good survival rates back then. It’s better today, but they gave him 6 months to live,” Brad said. “So, he retired.” 

Brad joined the Caterpillar team in 1998 as a demonstrator at the Edwards Demonstration Learning Center. “[My grandpa] always wanted me to work at the DLC. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see it happen.”  

Even so, Armour’s legacy at Cat lives on. Brad has worn many hats in his nearly 30-year career at Caterpillar, but one that hits particularly close to home is his work on Cat Command, which enables equipment to be operated from outside the cab.  

“We began developing Cat Command in response to ongoing safety concerns in mining operations. We wanted a way to make operating in hazardous conditions safer by enabling it to be done at a distance,” Brad explained. “My grandpa was super vulnerable [while operating equipment] during the war. Now we can demonstrate that we can do it safely and keep the operators out of harm’s way.”

Brad described his role as “bridging the gap of knowledge between designer and operator.” In the case of Cat Command, he worked to ensure the camera placements and remote command stations provided operators with enough visibility around the machine to do their work.

The Cat family tradition has officially been passed on as Brad’s son, Jayce, recently joined the Machine User Interface team as a graphic designer, becoming the third generation of Armour’s family to work at Caterpillar. 

"As a third-generation employee, I'm honored to build on the foundation my great-grandfather and father laid ━ helping shape the future of Cat machines by designing intuitive experiences that make complex work feel effortless.”