Joseph Metcalf III, the Navy vice admiral who led the U.S. invasion of the Caribbean nation of Grenada in 1983, died March 2 at 79 at his home in Washington, D.C.

Metcalf, described by The Washington Post as a “colorful and pugnacious commander,” was given the assignment to lead the invasion only 39 hours before it was to take place, Oct. 25, 1983. Six days earlier, a Marxist faction had seized control of Grenada’s government and executed Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and 15 of his supporters. Citing concerns about resident Cuban advisors and 650 American medical students, U.S. forces prepared to invade.

Metcalf, who was commander of the Atlantic 2nd Fleet, led an force of about 6,000 troops from all four branches of the military in the attack, code-named Operation Urgent Fury. It was the first U.S.combat operation since Vietnam.

American forces took control of the 133-square-mile island nation. In sporadic fighting, 19 Americans — none of them medical students — and 45 Grenadans were killed.

Metcalf enforced a strict press blackout. Several reporters in a chartered fishing boat were turned back by U.S. military jets. When a reporter later asked the admiral what he would have done if the boat had not turned around . Metcalf replied, “I’d have blown your ass right out of the water!”

In 1985, Metcalf landed in hot water for attempting to bring back AK-47 rifles from Grenada as souvenirs. Adm. Metcalf received an official “caution.”

Metcalf enlisted in the Navy in 1946 and graduated from the the U.S. Naval Academy, 1951.

In 1966, he commanded a ship in the first amphibious landing of the Vietnam War. As the United States withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, Metcalf was in charge of evacuating all surface ships.

Not long before his retirement in 1987, he devised the concept of “revolution at sea,” in which he recommended that Navy ships be made of composite materials and designed to conceal communications equipment and weapons.