http://www.vectorsite.net/avb52_2.html

“B-52 crews had been getting increasingly frustrated with the predictable tactics, knowing they would lead to trouble sooner rather than later, and the result of the losses was an outburst of protest and anger. The crews were perfectly willing to fly combat missions, but they were not happy about dead-head military bureaucracy setting them up like ducks in a shooting gallery. The Air Force has never been very specific on what exactly happened, some sources claiming that they had a near-mutiny on their hands, but it is clear that the brass decided to sit down and work on getting the house in order.

“The B-52G was taking a disproportionate share of the losses. The “wet wing” of the B-52G made it more vulnerable to battle damage, as did the fact that not all of the B-52Gs had the same level of countermeasures fit as the B-52D. This situation was made all the more ironic because the B-52G, with no capability of carrying bombs on its external pylons, could only carry about half the conventional bombload of the B-52D.

“The B-52Gs were ordered to stand down for two days while fixes were hurriedly implemented. 30 B-52Ds out of U Tapao flew strikes on 21 December, but the results were still bad, with two bombers lost. The next night, the 22nd, 30 B-52Ds came back again, but this time their attacks were performed from unpredictable directions, and there were no losses. Strikes were made on SAM sites to help wear down the defenses for later.”

Here’s how the JCS web site handles it.  They would have us believe that the US stopped flying the B-52s for two days because one (1) crewman refused to fly.  No need to believe anything else the US has to say on the subject.

“After the war, rumors circulated of “mutinies” among B-52 crews. It was an exaggeration (only one crewman refused to fly), but SAC’s unimaginative tactics generated a great deal of resentment with attendant drooping morale. Still, there was humor among the chaos. On one night over Hanoi, a BUFF flier blew his coach’s whistle over the radio, signaling a “time out” in the proceedings. His squadronmates later swore that the SAMs stopped shooting for a minute and a half!”

Vietnamese folks say that 34 B-52s were shot down during this period, Americans say many fewer.  I’d think one could split the difference.

The mutiny seems to have been almost completely shut up, as one would expect.  I’d imagine there are very healthy felony charges awaiting anyone who would talk or write about it from the inside.  There’s not talk of a court martial for any of these folks, even the one, as you would expect.  That would have publicized it, and the anti-war people would have loved to find that out.

Considering the JCS admit there was a standdown, and admit one person refused to fly, I would stake a lot on the mutiny occurring.  And I would stake a lot more on Americans never finding out.