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.

Military Time
Military Time Chart

The Military Time Chart

12 Hour Clock (UTC)24 Hour Clock (UTC)Military Pronunciation (US)
Midnight 0:00 AM24-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).