Easy Military Time Conversion
Military time (MT) is, like it sounds, the conventional way of telling time in most militaries. It is used by militaries to eliminate the possibility of confusion when transferring scheduling information. When used properly, it eliminates the need to specify whether an event or action is to take place in the AM or PM. As you might imagine, accidentally switching the “A” to a “P” or vice versa on a written document or accidentally mistaking the “A” for a “P” in a conversation could be devastating in a military setting. Hence, this system was developed.
Military time is also referred to as 24 hour time or a 24 hour clock, as it is a system that goes from 0-24, as opposed to 0-12. It is also different from standard time (ST) in that, when written, it does not have a colon between the hours and the minutes. It is also always four digits (i.e. 0450 and 1123), as opposed to its counterpart, which can be just three digits (i.e. 4:50 AM and 11:23AM).
Military Time Chart
| Military Time | Standard Time |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 12:00 |
| 01:00 | 1:00am |
| 02:00 | 2:00am |
| 03:00 | 3:00am |
| 04:00 | 4:00am |
| 05:00 | 5:00am |
| 06:00 | 6:00am |
| 07:00 | 7:00am |
| 08:00 | 8:00am |
| 09:00 | 9:00am |
| 10:00 | 10:00am |
| 11:00 | 11:00am |
| 12:00 | 12:00pm |
| 13:00 | 1:00pm |
| 14:00 | 2:00pm |
| 15:00 | 3:00pm |
| 16:00 | 4:00pm |
| 17:00 | 5:00pm |
| 18:00 | 6:00pm |
| 19:00 | 7:00pm |
| 20:00 | 8:00pm |
| 21:00 | 9:00pm |
| 22:00 | 10:00pm |
| 23:00 | 11:00pm |
 |
Military Time Conversion
To convert from military to standard time is quite simple. If the MT is less than 1200, you simply format it like ST (XX:XX) and add “AM” afterwards. If the MT is greater than 1200 (i.e. 1456), you simply format it like XX:XX, subtract 1200 and add “PM” afterwards.
To convert from standard to military time, you don’t have to do much if the ST is earlier than 12:00PM (noon). All you have to do in those cases, is remove the colon and remove the “AM” designator. If the ST is later than 12:00PM (i.e. 7:45PM), you simply add 12 to the number in the hours place and format it like MT. Thus, 7:45PM becomes 1945.
Military time is based on the 24 hours of a day, a “regular” clock spins twice around the same 12 hour face, and forces us to specify either “AM” or “PM” all the time so people know what we’re talking about. The AM time in military time works exactly the same. The part that is different is the after-noon time; the fact that 1:00 PM is now called 13.0 (pronounced thirteen hundred, or thirteen, point-zero).
You will need to either get a new time clock if yours is mechanical or have re-programmed the one you have if it’s electronic, to punch out military time. Cost? Please don’t get all “cheap-skate” on me here! How much time are you wasting now? Errors do you have to go back and correct? How much does that cost? It’s time to simplify your life! There’s one more thing.
Military Time Conversion in Minutes
The next change simplifies further by using the decimal system for the fractions of an hour. Instead of the exact time in minutes, which are of coarse, 1/60th of an hour, and makes figuring the time-elapsed very confusing, make your time clock use 10th’s of an hour instead. The clock will round down to the nearest tenth of an hour. A tenth of an hour is 6 minutes, so 0.1 equals 6 minutes, 0.2 (or two-tenths) equals 12 minutes, 0.5 is 30 minutes or a half hour, and so forth. Examples: 7:00 AM becomes 7.0, 10:18 AM becomes 10.3, 3:30 PM becomes 15.5, 5:07 PM becomes 17.1, 8:46 PM becomes 20.7.check military minutes
Since all you need to remember is that each 10th equals 6 minutes, you will know that 9.9 must be 6 minutes before 10 and 9.8 must be about 12 minutes before 10. It’s easier for you when everything is expressed in tenths (6 minute increments).
Pitfall: It is a very common mistake for people to confuse the minutes with tenths when they attempt to convert in their head, manually. This is why you should get a time clock and let it do the work! People think 9:45 AM, and convert that to 9.45. Wrong! 0.45 is a little less than a half an hour. The correct answer is 9.75, or three-fourths of an hour.
Now we get to the good part that makes your life a breeze. To figure time, all you have to do is subtract the little number from the big number. If someone worked 7:36 AM until 3:30 PM with hour for lunch, you are doing this; 15.5 – 7.6 = 7.9, then deduct lunch, -0.5 = 7.4. You see? It become almost effortless and it also becomes error-free.
Zulu Time
The 24-hour method of telling time has been known as “railway time” in most of Europe and “continental time” in England. In the United States, it is best known as “military time.” Most of the world uses the 24-hour time as part of their daily routine. In the US military, 24-hour time allows for precision in military operations and allows that same precision to be coordinated with other militaries. When it comes to military operations, the coordination within the military must not be confused in relation to the time zone the individual units are in.
To keep military operations in sync, Zulu time is used. Zulu time (known as Greenwich Mean Time) is the same, everywhere. Each time zone around the world has a letter assigned to the zone. The letter Z identifies the time zone in Greenwich, England. Since military organization could be in several time zones around the world, Zulu time allows for exact timing of any event anywhere in the world. Since there are 24 time zones around the world, Zulu time is universally understood and is used to ensure clear and effective communications anywhere on the planet. Let us now look at how the 24-hour method is used.
Today, many clocks and watches have the ability to use either the 12 or 24-hour clock display. Using 24-hour time is really simple, once some basic principles are understood. Understand there are 24-hours in a day. The day begins at 0000 and ends at 2400 (or 12 am to 12 pm). As the day progresses, time is simply counted up as the hours pass. At 12 noon, the time would be 1200 and half the day has passed. At 2 pm, the time would be 1400 on the 24-hour clock. To simplify this, please review the included chart.
24-hour Clock Conversion Chart
Typically, 12 midnight is described as 2400, the end of the day. The beginning of the next day would be indicated as 0001, or one minute after midnight. For example, if you worked from 9am until 5pm, your work hours would be 0900 to 1700. If we’re going to meet someone for coffee at 7…is that am or pm? If you set your coffee date for 1900, you would instantly know to be there at 7 pm. Using the 24-hour method will reduce confusion.
So why use 24-hour method of telling time? As stated, most of the world uses it. It is used in the US trucking, railroad, medical, police, fire and travel industries just to name a few. Anywhere time must be precise; you will find the use of the 24-hour clock. If you travel around the world, you will find the 24-hour clock used to clarify a specific time of day. There is no need to buy a 24-hour clock, just practice with the chart and any clock can be a 24-hour clock.
The conclusion in this post we described what the 24-hour method was and how it is used. Everybody knows that most industry’s need precise time, without confusion, uses the 24-hour clock. We also learned that most of the world uses the 24-hour time in their daily routine. Using the provided chart and practice can allow you to convert time effortlessly. Don’t be confused when traveling abroad; learn to use the 24-hour clock.
Morning Hours
0000 = 12 am (midnight)
0100 = 1 am
0200 = 2 am
0300 = 3 am
0400 = 4 am
0500 = 5 am
0600 = 6 am
0700 = 7 am
0800 = 8 am
0900 = 9 am
1000 = 10 am
1100 = 11 am
Evening Hours
1200 = 12 am (noon)
1300 = 1 pm
1400 = 2 pm
1500 = 3 pm
1600 = 4 pm
1700 = 5 pm
1800 = 6 pm
1900 = 7 pm
2000 = 8 pm
2100 = 9 pm
2200 = 10 pm
2300 = 11 pm
2400 = 12 pm (midnight)