Packaging and Marking Guide for DoD

This is an informational guide issued by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) in March 2014 that provides standardized packaging and marking requirements for Department of Defense contracts and solicitations. While not officially adopted by DoD, the guide serves as an instructional resource for contractors to understand packaging specifications, preservation methods, and marking standards required in federal contracts.

The guide covers five basic military preservation methods: Method 10 (physical protection), Method 20 (preservative coating only), Method 30 (waterproof protection), Method 40 (watervaporproof protection), and Method 50 (watervaporproof protection with desiccant). It details specific packing levels (Level A for severe conditions and Level B for moderate conditions) and illustrates nine specific packing methods (Methods 31-33 and 41-43) with diagrams showing proper construction, materials, and container specifications. The guide specifies that hazardous materials must comply with modal regulations including Title 49 CFR for land transport, IMO/IMDG for water, ICAO/IATA for commercial air, and AFMAN 24-204_IP for military air shipments, with marking per MIL-STD-129 when specified. Additional sections address packaging requirement codes (PRC) using two-digit codes to specify preservation methods, cleaning and drying procedures, wrap materials, cushioning materials, and container types. The guide includes marking examples for unit and intermediate containers with identification markings, bar codes, address information, special markings (shelf-life, project codes, hazardous materials labels), and Military Shipping Labels (MSL) for CONUS shipments. It also references MIL-STD-147 for palletization standards, heat-treated wood packaging material requirements, RFID tag specifications, and quality assurance inspection provisions for preservation and packing inspections including leakage and heat-sealed seam testing.