Packaging and Marking Guide For DoD

This is an informational guide prepared by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) in March 2014 that provides best practices for packaging and marking Department of Defense shipments. The guide is not officially adopted by DoD and is intended for familiarization purposes only, serving as a reference rather than a substitute for contractual requirements, specifications, or regulations.

The guide covers five basic methods of military preservation: Method 10 (physical protection), Method 20 (preservative coating only), Method 30 (waterproof protection), Method 40 (watervaporproof protection), and Method 50 (watervaporproof protection with desiccant). Military packaging is classified into Level A (most severe worldwide conditions) and Level B (moderate conditions), with specific container and material requirements for each level. For hazardous materials, shipments must comply with 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 per MIL-STD-129. The guide details specific packaging methods (31-52) with illustrations showing required preservation, wrapping, cushioning, and container specifications. Package markings must include identification information (NSN, CAGE code, part number, contract number, military method, quantity), bar code information, address markings using Military Shipping Labels, and special markings for hazardous materials, shelf-life, project codes, fragile items, and electrostatic discharge sensitive devices. Additional requirements include heat-treated wood packaging material (WPM) compliance, palletization standards per MIL-STD-147, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags per DFARS Clause 252.211-7006, and quality assurance provisions with preservation and packing inspection procedures specified in Appendix G.