MIL-STD-2073.pdf

This document is the Packaging and Marking Guide for the Department of Defense (DoD), published in March 2014 by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). It serves as an informational guide for familiarization purposes and does not constitute official DoD policy or replace contractual requirements, specifications, or regulations.

The guide provides comprehensive guidance on military packaging and preservation standards applicable to DoD contracts and solicitations. It details packaging requirements referenced in various contract sections (A through J) and identifies where packaging specifications appear, including in Commercial Item Descriptions (CIDs), military or federal specifications, aperture cards and drawings, special packaging instructions, DLA Master Solicitations, FAR and DFARS clauses, product specifications, Military Standard Drawings (MS), industry standards (ASTM), and Packaging Requirement Codes (PRC). For hazardous materials, packaging must comply with applicable modal regulations: Title 49 CFR for land transport, IMO/IMDG for water, ICAO/IATA for commercial air, and AFMAN 24-204_IP for military air, with markings and labels per MIL-STD-129. The document covers commercial packaging standards (ASTM D-3951) for items intended for immediate use, depot consumption, or non-mission capable supply, and military packaging standards (MIL-STD-2073-1E) applicable to items requiring preservation during wartime deployment, reusable containers, delivery-at-sea, or Defense Transportation and Distribution System storage exceeding six months. It includes detailed descriptions of five basic military preservation methods (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) with illustrations of specific packing configurations, quality assurance provisions, inspection procedures, marking requirements across identification, bar code, address, and special markings categories, and references to additional standards including MIL-STD-129, MIL-DTL-117, MIL-STD-147 for palletization, RFID requirements, and relevant websites and specifications.