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Congressional Daily Record
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July 20, 2026
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Download official Extensions PDFReturn to issue contextRECOGNIZING THE SERVICE AND SACRIFICE OF MAJOR BRAD “SLATE” HOVEY
HON. ZACHARY NUNN
of iowa
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 20, 2026
Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Major Brad “Slate” Hovey of Adel, Iowa, who was killed on June 15, 2026, when his B-52 crashed on takeoff during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Seven fellow airmen were lost with him. Brad was 35 years old. His family says his life was woven with threads of bravery, integrity, and service—inspiring all who knew and loved him.
studied aerospace engineering and served in the Air Force ROTC with Detachment 250. After graduating in 2014, he was commissioned by his own father-in-law—a fitting start for a man who never drew a line between family and service.
He earned his wings in 2015. Through 12 years of service, Brad served as a B-52 and B-1 bomber pilot, completing three combat deployments and flying over 200 combat hours across 20 combat sorties.
selected for the United States Air Force Test Pilot School with Class 23A—one of the most demanding schools in American aviation. With the 419th Flight Test Squadron, Brad flew B-52 and B-1 test missions to ensure the next crew in the cockpit had safe, lethal and combat-ready equipment ready to fly in defense of our Nation. Over the course of his career, Brad logged more than 1,890 total flight hours and over 350 sorties across 29 distinct airframes.
Mr. Speaker, as a 20-year Air Force Veteran, I know I speak for my fellow airmen when I say that the flight test is some of the hardest and least recognized work we do. On the morning of June 15, 2026, Brad took a sixty-year-old bomber into the sky with a new radar on it so the crews who fly it next would know it worked. He did that without fanfare and with mission first.
He is survived by his wife, Megan, and their two children; his parents, Kent and Sondra; and his brothers, Lane and Kyle, who will remember him for his love of the stars and the sky, his devoted service to his Nation, and, most of all, the way he loved them.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Major Brad “Slate” Hovey—a devoted husband, a loving father, a distinguished Airman, and a proud Iowan—and in keeping his family and the families of all eight Americans lost that day in our prayers. Iowa will remember their sacrifice.