Military Time
Military time is used to more accurately and easily track the passing of each hour throughout the day. A 24 Hour Clock written as 00:00 where the first two digits are the hour between 00 (midnight) and 23 and the second two digits are the minutes from 00 to 59. It increments by hours from 00 to 23 and by minutes from 00 to 59; 11:59 PM being 23:59. The military clock is only local to its time zone base with UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) being most often used as it is easily adjusted to local time globally. UTC Military Time is called "Zulu Time" by the world's militaries, aviation industry and marine industry. Military time conversion is simple, for example military time 1600 is 4pm.
The Military Time Chart
| 12 Hour Clock (UTC) | 24 Hour Clock (UTC) | Military Pronunciation (US) |
|---|---|---|
| Midnight 0:00 AM | 24-Hour Time 0:00 Military Time 00 | zero hours oh dark |
| 1:00 AM 1AM | 24-Hour Time 1:00 Military Time 0100 | zero one hundred hours oh one hundred hours |
| 2:00 AM 2AM | 24-Hour Time 2:00 Military Time 0200 | zero two hundred hours oh two hundred hours |
| 3:00 AM 3AM | 24-Hour Time 3:00 Military Time 0300 | zero three hundred hours oh three hundred hours |
| 4:00 AM 4AM | 24-Hour Time 4:00 Military Time 0400 | zero four hundred hours oh four hundred hours |
| 5:00 AM 5AM | 24-Hour Time 5:00 Military Time 0500 | zero five hundred hours oh five hundred hours |
| 6:00 AM 6AM | 24-Hour Time 6:00 Military Time 0600 | zero six hundred hours oh six hundred hours |
| 7:00 AM 7AM | 24-Hour Time 7:00 Military Time 0700 | zero seven hundred hours oh seven hundred hours |
| 8:00 AM 8AM | 24-Hour Time 8:00 Military Time 0800 | zero eight hundred hours oh eight hundred hours |
| 9:00 AM 9AM | 24-Hour Time 9:00 Military Time 0900 | zero nine hundred hours oh nine hundred hours |
| 10:00 AM 10AM | 24-Hour Time 10:00 Military Time 1000 | ten hundred hours |
| 11:00 AM 11AM | 24-Hour Time 11:00 Military Time 1100 | eleven hundred hours |
| 12:00 PM 12PM | 24-Hour Time 12:00 Military Time 1200 | twelve hundred hours |
| 1:00 PM 1PM | 24-Hour Time 13:00 Military Time 1300 | thirteen hundred hours |
| 2:00 PM 2PM | 24-Hour Time 14:00 Military Time 1400 | fourteen hundred hours |
| 3:00 PM 3PM | 24-Hour Time 15:00 Military Time 1500 | fifteen hundred hours |
| 4:00 PM 4PM | 24-Hour Time 16:00 Military Time 1600 | sixteen hundred hours |
| 5:00 PM 5PM | 24-Hour Time 17:00 Military Time 1700 | seventeen hundred hours |
| 6:00 PM 6PM | 24-Hour Time 18:00 Military Time 1800 | eighteen hundred hours |
| 7:00 PM 7PM | 24-Hour Time 19:00 Military Time 1900 | nineteen hundred hours |
| 8:00 PM 8PM | 24-Hour Time 20:00 Military Time 2000 | twenty hundred hours |
| 9:00 PM 9PM | 24-Hour Time 21:00 Military Time 2100 | twenty-one hundred hours |
| 10:00 PM 10PM | 24-Hour Time 22:00 Military Time 2200 | twenty-two hundred hours |
| 11:00 PM 11PM | 24-Hour Time 23:00 Military Time 2300 | twenty-three hundred hours |
Military Time FAQ
- What is Zulu Time?
- Zulu Time is the time at the prime meridian which is 0°(zero degrees) longitude. At the prime meridian, the time is scientifically named Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). An atomic clock located in the Greenwich Observatory in London, England is the reference for UTC. Time zones around the world are quoted referencing UTC, for example, Eastern Standard Time (EST) is quoted as -5 hours which is five hours less than UTC. When writing a UTC time, the convention is to write 01:58Z where the 'Z' refers to the prime meridian (zero degress longitude). 'Z' in the military alphabet is phonetically pronounced Zulu, therefore Zulu Time.
- What is the Resolution of Military Time?
- Military Time can be as accurate as any application requires. The basic format of hours and minutes is 00:00Z. This is extended to seconds as 00:00:00Z. Millisecond resolution is 00:00:00:000Z. Microsecond accuracy is 00:00:00:000000Z. Nanosecond accuracy is 00:00:00:000000000Z and so on. It is also common to add additional seperators for reading clarity, for example, 00:00:00:000.000.000Z.
- How Old is Military Time?
- Military Time is actually ancient, but became popular during World War II and ubiquitous with the advent of Binary Logic and Computers. The history of military time can be dated back to the Early Egyptians in the 11th Dynasty (around 2000BC - 4000 years ago). The earliest appearance of a 24-hour clock discovered so far was on a coffin lid which is famously known as the Diagonal Star Table.
- How Do I Convert Military Time?
- For a military time that is larger than 12:00, just subtract 12 hours to get the 12 hour clock time, then add “pm”. For example, if you have 14:30 hours, subtract 12 hours and the result is 2:30 pm. If the military time is less than or equal to 12:00, simply add “am”.
- Is Military and 24-Hour Time the Same?
- Military Time is the same as 24 hour time except its formatting. There are 2 differences between military time and 24 hour time:
- Military time uses a leading zero while 24 hour time does not
- 24 hour time uses a colon while military time does not
- What's 12am Military Time?
- Military times 0000 and 2400 are used for 12:00 AM / midnight and not 1200 which is used to signify 12:00 PM / noon.
- How Tell Military Time?
- Military times are pronounced as a number for hours and minutes, such as "zero hours" for midnight, fourteen-hundred hours for 1400 (2pm) and "fourteen fifty-52" for 1452 (2:52 pm).