Afterwards, three more Combat Air Patrol (CAP) Zeros attacked the Douglas TBD Devastators that McCuskey's division was protecting. One of them, most likely Petty Officer Sadamu Komachi, chased McCuskey into a cloud, and out of the fight. However, the escorting Wildcats successfully protected the torpedo bombers, as none were lost during the attack on "Shōkaku". Near the enemy carries, McCuskey encountered two more Zeros and escaped by diving into a rain squall. He returned to the US fleet and landed on the damaged "Lexington", as he could not locate "Yorktown". "Lexington" later sank with his Wildcat fighter on board. After the battle, he returned to "Yorktown", and VF-42 was merged into VF-3, which was commanded by Lieutenant Commander John Thach. During the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942, McCuskey was part of the CAP that protected Task Force 17. His division intercepted the first strike wave of 18 Aichi D3A dive bombers from the undamaged "Hiryū" led by Lieutenant Michio Kobayashi. Attacking ahead of the others, he made a side-on pass against the Japanese lead division, then found himself heading into the second division head-on. In the resulting chaos, he claimed three dive bombers destroyed (before running out of ammunition), and caused the enemy formation to disintegrate, leaving them easy targets for the approaching Wildcats. Nevertheless, seven D3A dive bombers survived the gauntlet to hit "Yorktown", leaving her heavily damaged, and he was forced to land on "Enterprise". Later that afternoon, he led a division of four Wildcats off "Enterprise" for another CAP sortie over Task Force 17. His flight ambushed several Zeros, claiming three, including two for McCuskey (he in fact shot down one and damaged the other). However, McCuskey was himself jumped by a Zero flown by "Kaga" ace Akira Yamamoto. McCuskey's wingman, who Yamamoto had not seen, intervened and drove the Zero away. In the meantime, Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers managed to cripple "Yorktown", and McCuskey again landed on "Enterprise". After the Battle of Midway, McCuskey was transferred back to United States, where he worked as a flight instructor. In late 1943, he joined VF-8 on the carrier Bunker Hill and flew the Grumman F6F Hellcat.