John Bahnsen - Retirement

Retirement

Retiring from the U.S. Army in 1986, Bahnsen returned to West Point where his wife, Lieutenant Colonel Peggy Miller Bahnsen, was the first woman to serve as a regimental tactical officer (RTO), which placed her in command of one-quarter of the Corps of Cadets. It was during this period that his son Minh lived with him; to get to know his father and to get a better grasp on the English language. He also joined BDM Corporation as a program manager. After two years with BDM, he formed his own consulting firm, Bahnsen, Inc., consulting with the military and defense contractors.

After Peggy's retirement from the U.S. Army, the Bahnsens returned to her home town of New Cumberland, West Virginia to live and work on Miller Farm, her family's award-winning farm. Becoming a gentleman farmer wasn't sufficient to keep Doc busy. Both Doc and Peggy are active in the Republican Party, serving on the West Virginia State Republican executive committee representing First Senatorial District. They are also participants in Camp Lincoln, a week-long summer camp for West Virginia teenagers. He also built a sizeable wildlife habitat in one of the farm's wooded areas and raises corn and milo for the sole purpose of feeding the wild game (quail, doves, pheasants, and deer) that live on the property. The Bahnsen's also have a stream-fed pond that brims with a variety of fish. His grandchildren are known to spend time hooking up a few crappie during visits with Doc and Peggy. He also allows some of the local boys to come over and fill a couple of five gallon buckets with fish.

A lifelong country-boy who grew up eating a hearty breakfast, a habit he retained as a soldier and maintains today, Doc is a regular at John's Home Cooking, a New Cumberland landmark, where he frequently enjoys breakfast with a squad of local boys who make for good company.

Active in his West Point class' on-goings,and these days giving talks mostly to army audiences, Doc remains an avid bird hunter, raising and training his own bird dogs (English pointers, exclusively). Fact is, he works his dogs every day, often taking them along on road trips. Although Miller farm is flush with plenty of game birds, Doc doesn't hunt them himself, but hosts an annual invitation-only dove shoot. Each fall, Bahnsen takes an annual hunting trip to the Midwest, where he hunts fast-flying birds. He doesn't shoot at stationary game, as he sees no sport in that endeavor, but does permit local hunters to thin the whitetail herd that inhabits Miller farm., "Papa John", as Doc is known to his grandchildren, frequently travels to his hometown, Rochelle, Georgia to visit with them and his sons and daughter, and Pat, with whom (despite their two marriages and divorces) he maintains an amicable relationship.