rank and privilege at the US Naval Air Station.

Base commanding officer Capt. Jim Arnold has remained silent since the claims were made in last Thursday's PrimeTime programme.

The station has also been rocked by further charges of a cover-up of two sex attacks by Navy personnel -- including an alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl.

Colorado Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, chairwoman of the Armed Services Cub-Committee on Military Installations, has demanded an urgent probe by US military top brass into the accusations.

And yesterday Capt. Arnold came under pressure to speak on the controversy.

It came from an unexpected source -- a man connected with a special law firm helping the two naval personnel who blew the whistle to PrimeTime.

Mr. Stewart Rawlings Mott, whose family have been long-term Bermuda residents, is a backer of the Government Accountability Project (GAP).

GAP -- a non-profit organisation aimed at protecting whistle-blowers -- is part-financed by the Fund for Constitutional Government, a group founded by Mr. Mott.

In a faxed message from Washington to Capt. Arnold and the Base's public affairs officer Ensign Marie McGahan Mr. Mott urges the pair to break their silence.

"You guys gotta find a way to respond -- and promptly -- and publicly -- because the heat is on,'' he writes. Mr. Mott, who counts Rep. Schroeder as a friend, said he was "saddened, maybe cynical, but not altogether surprised'' that neither Capt. Arnold nor Ensign McGahan had seen the letters from Rep.

Schroeder.

It was a poor reflection on communications between Congress, the Pentagon, and USNAS Bermuda.

Mr. Mott said he had met the two whistle-blowers -- Arms Senior Chief Petty Officer George Randall Taylor and Second Class Petty Officer Thomas William Coggins.

Both seemed of sound mind -- which raised questions over why Chief Taylor had been recommended for psychiatric tests after he had made his allegations.

"If there is a side to the NAS Bermuda story that hasn't been told that refutes their allegations -- and the PrimeTime piece -- I hope that Marie McGahan and James Arnold will speak forth promptly and openly,'' Mr. Mott writes.

Yesterday The Royal Gazette was unable to contact Capt. Arnold.