If you are involved in military packaging and exports chances are you have seen a lot of acronyms thrown around and one of these is probably MIL-STD-2073-1. What exactly though does this acronym mean and why is it important for military exporting and packaging?

MIL-STD-2073-1

MIL-STD-2073-1 is the standard practice for military packaging. All military packages and exports must be compliant through this standard, unless they are for immediate use (less than six months of storage) or non-mission capable. Immediate use or non-mission capable items only require standard commercial packaging compliance.

If your items will be entering the military distribution system and require long term storage, then you must abide by MIL-STD-2073-1. You will also need to abide by this standard if your products will be delivered during wartime, contain reusable components, or is intended for delivery-at-sea.

What does MIL-STD-2073-1 Entail?

MIL-STD-2073-1 entails three basic components: military packaging, military preservation, and military packing. While these terms may sound similar, they all involve different aspects of military exporting.

Military Packaging

Military packaging is essentially just the means of labeling a packaging for MIL-STD-2073-1 compliance. The DoD defines this as, “A means of specifying the military preservation and packing that a given item requires to ensure that it is not degraded during shipment and storage.”

Military Preservation

Military preservation refers to the materials or methods needed to protect an item during shipment, handling, storage, and distribution.

Steps involved in military preservation include:

• Cleaning
• Drying
• Preserving
• Wrapping and/or cushioning
• Unit packing
• Identifying

There are also five methods involved in military preservation. These include:

• Physical protection
• Preservative coating only
• Waterproof protection
• Watervaporproof protection
• Watervaporproof protection with desiccant (drying agent)

Military Packing 

The last component of MIL-STD-2073-1 involves military packing. Military packing refers to any the application of exterior protective methods, materials, and devices ensuring preservation.

Steps involved in military packing include:

• Selecting an exterior container
• Assembling items into the container
• Blocking, bracing, and cushioning items
• Weatherproofing
• Strapping
• Marking

There are two levels of military packing. Level A is the protection required to meet the most severe worldwide shipping, handling, and storage conditions. Level A packing usually requires overseas wood type boxes (like our SnapCrate option), as well as, plastic and metal reusable containers.

Level B is the protection required to meet moderate worldwide shipping, handling, and storage conditions. Level B packing usually requires domestic wood crates, weather-resistant fiberboard containers, fast pack containers, weather-resistant fiber drums, and weather-resistant paper and multi-wall shipping sacks.

How Bentley-World Packaging Can Help

We understand the complexities involved in interpreting military compliance standards like MIL-STD-2073-1. The last thing you want is to go through all the steps of military packing, only to find it is not sufficient or you missed a step. We can help you save time and resources by handling all aspects of military packing and exporting for you.

Have a question about military packaging? Bentley can help.