Retired Air Force Col. Todd Harmer, military liaison for Sen. Saxby Chambliss, recently visited Hinesville to speak with members of the Southeast Georgia Friends of Fort Stewart and Hunter, the Liberty County Development Authority and the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce about the effects sequestration would have on the community.

Harmer stressed the overall importance of Fort Stewart while listening to the attendees, who voiced their concerns regarding sequestration.

Harmer retired after 26 years of service as an active-duty Air Force officer and began working for Chambliss three days later. He has completed various operational, staff and command assignments in the United States, Europe and the Pacific.

He served as a congressional liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives, a strategic planner at U.S. Forces-Iraq and a fighter wing commander. Harmer has more than 3,300 flying hours, primarily in F-15s and F-16s. He now advises and assists Chambliss on issues concerning defense, veterans’ affairs, Homeland Security and foreign relations.

The sequester is a defense and entitlement cut of $1.2 trillion that will take effect Jan. 2, 2013, if Congress does not agree on a deficit-cutting package. Chambliss spoke in August in Hinesville about the possible effects of sequestration.