RICHMOND HILL — In an effort to drum up support for Fort Stewart, which is facing threats in the form of sequestration and BRAC, Hinesville Mayor Jim Thomas spoke to the Richmond Hill Rotary Club on Thursday at the City Center in J.F. Gregory Park.The post, which has an annual total economic impact of $4.9 billion, stretches over five counties — Liberty, Bryan, Evans, Long and Tattnall — meaning serious cuts would be felt around the region, not just by those in Hinesville, according to Thomas. His presentation indicated that Fort Stewart employs 1,441 Bryan County residents to the tune of $72,422,301.Originally known as Base Closure and Realignment when it began in the late 1980s, BRAC is the process that the Department of Defense uses to reorganize its base structure to make for a more efficient military.While Congress currently is opposed to BRAC, Thomas said there are people in Washington, D.C., who are reviewing the issue, and the possibility that a round of BRAC looms large for 2017.In addition, sequestration could complicate matters considerably.“Sequestration is an ax that hangs over the Army. If sequestration takes place, the Army is going to lose $50 billion a year.