MIL-STD-2073.pdf

This is an informational guide published by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) in March 2014 that provides guidance on packaging and marking requirements for Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and solicitations. The guide is not officially adopted by DoD but serves as an instructional resource for familiarization purposes only.

The guide outlines the locations where packaging requirements appear in solicitations and contracts (Sections A through J), emphasizing that contractors must review entire contract documents for requirements. It details hazardous materials packaging regulations, requiring compliance with Title 49 CFR for land transport, IMO/IMDG for water, ICAO/IATA for commercial air, and AFMAN 24-204_IP for military air transport, with markings and labeling per appropriate modal regulations and MIL-STD-129. The document provides comprehensive coverage of military packaging standards, specifically MIL-STD-2073-1E (with Change 1 from January 2011), which applies to items requiring military preservation for operational deployment, reusable containers, delivery-at-sea scenarios, and extended storage exceeding six months. It describes five basic preservation methods (Methods 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50) and multiple packing methods (31, 32, 33, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, and 52) with detailed illustrations showing the layering and containment requirements for each. The guide includes packaging requirement codes (PRCs) from MIL-STD-20731E(1), a sample worksheet for translating packaging requirements, quality assurance provisions including preservation and packing inspections with leakage and heat-seal seam tests, package marking requirements (identification, bar code, address, and special markings), examples of unit and exterior container labels, and information on Military Shipping Labels (MSL), special markings for shelf-life and hazardous materials, heat-treated wood packaging material marking, palletization standards per MIL-STD-147, RFID requirements, and references to key specifications including MIL-STD-129, MIL-DTL-117, ASTM D3951, and others.