Packaging and Marking Guide for DoD

This is an informational guide published by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) in March 2014 that provides standardized packaging and marking procedures for Department of Defense contracts and solicitations.

The guide establishes that packaging requirements are located throughout solicitation and contract documents, primarily in Section D (Packaging & Marking), with additional references in specifications, military or federal standards, 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. Hazardous materials must be packaged per applicable Modal Regulations: Title 49 CFR for land, IMO/IMDG for water, ICAO/IATA for commercial air, and AFMAN 24-204_IP for military air. Marking and labeling must comply with appropriate modal regulations and MIL-STD-129 when specified. The guide details two primary military packaging standards: ASTM D-3951 (latest revision D3951-10) for commercial packaging applicable to items for immediate use, depot consumption, and not-for-stock shipments; and MIL-STD-2073-1E with Change 1 (effective January 7, 2011) for military packaging applied to wartime deployment items, reusable containers, delivery-at-sea items, and Defense Transportation and Distribution System entries with storage exceeding six months. The document defines five basic preservation methods (Method 10 through 50), four military packing levels (Level A and B), multiple preservation and packing techniques (Methods 31-52), quality assurance provisions including visual examinations and leakage testing, and comprehensive marking requirements covering identification, bar codes, address markings using Military Shipping Labels, and special markings for shelf-life, project codes, fragile items, Method 50, expedited handling, and hazardous materials. Additional guidance addresses palletization standards per MIL-STD-147, heat-treated wood packaging material compliance, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag requirements, and links to packaging code lookup tools and related military specifications.