MIL-STD-2073.pdf

This document is the Packaging and Marking Guide for the Department of Defense, published by the Defense Contract Management Agency in March 2014. The guide serves as an informational reference for military packaging and marking requirements and explicitly states it has not been officially adopted by DoD, nor is it intended to replace contractual requirements, specifications, or regulations.

The guide addresses packaging requirements across multiple military standards and commercial practices. Hazardous materials must be packaged according to appropriate modal regulations: Title 49 CFR for land, IMO/IMDG for water, ICAO/IATA for commercial air, and AFMAN 24-204_IP for military air transport. The document outlines five basic preservation methods (Methods 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50) with increasing levels of protection, ranging from physical protection only to watervaporproof bags with desiccants. Military packaging requirements are specified in MIL-STD-2073-1E, which applies to items requiring military preservation for operational deployment, reusable containers, delivery-at-sea, or storage exceeding six months in the Defense Transportation and Distribution System. Commercial packaging may be utilized under ASTM D-3951 for items intended for immediate use, depot consumption, or small parcel post shipment. The guide provides detailed marking requirements including identification markings (NSN, CAGE code, part numbers, quantity), bar codes, address markings using Military Shipping Labels, and special markings for shelf-life, project codes, fragile items, Method 50 packaging, expedited handling, and hazardous materials. Quality assurance provisions, preservation inspection procedures, and leakage and heat-sealed seam tests are defined in MIL-STD-2073-1E Appendix G.