What is the Air Force's war planning system?

• A. MRDSS
• B. ART
• C. DRRS
• D. DCAPES

Answer: (D)

DCAPES, short for Deployment and Contingency Airlift Planning and Execution System, is the Air Force’s war planning tool. It provides the planning and execution framework to assemble and validate deployment data for personnel, equipment, and cargo, coordinating airlift resources and producing the movement data that shows when and where forces will deploy. It’s the primary system used to create and manage the Time-Phased Force Deployment Data (TPFDD), which guides how airlift is scheduled and executed across the joint force. In practice, DCAPES turns strategic deployment concepts into actionable airlift plans that align with the mission timeline. Other systems handle mission rehearsals or readiness reporting, but they do not serve as the central war planning tool for deployments.