Arma Hobby Cactus Air Force Deluxe Set F4F-4 Wildcat & P-400/P39D Airacobra 1:72. "Cactus" was the code name for the US air base on Guadalcanal, an island that was heavily fought over in the second half of 1942. The combined forces of the US Marine Corps, US Navy and USAAF stopped the onslaught of a Japanese invasion for the first time in the war. This would not have been done without a combined air force called the Cactus Air Force. This informal unit operated from the summer of 1942 to the spring of 1943, when its structure was reorganized as part of the 13th Air Force. The Marines landed on the island on August 7, 1942. The first US Navy aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga and Uk.