 Fletcher , along with Yorktown 's commanding officer , Captain Elliott Buckmaster , and their staffs , had acquired first @-@ hand experience in organizing and launching a full strike against an enemy force in the Coral Sea , but there was no time to pass these lessons on to Enterprise and Hornet which were tasked with launching the first strike . Spruance ordered the striking aircraft to proceed to target immediately , rather than waste time waiting for the strike force to assemble , since neutralizing enemy carriers was the key to the survival of his own task force . 
