Military Time Chart: 24-Hour Clock Conversion Made Easy

Military time is the 24-hour clock written as four digits without a colon, so 1:00 p.m. becomes 1300 and 9:30 a.m. becomes 0930. The day starts at 0000 (midnight) and runs to 2359. To convert afternoon times, add 12 to the hour; to read them back, subtract 12.

On this page

1. Military Time Chart: Every Hour at a Glance
2. What Is Military Time?
3. How to Convert Standard Time to Military Time
4. How to Convert Back to a.m. and p.m.
5. How to Say 24-Hour Times Out Loud
6. Minutes, Seconds and Precision
7. Adding Time Zones: The Zulu Suffix
8. Who Uses the 24-Hour Clock?
9. Why the Format Is So Useful
10. Common Conversion Mistakes
11. Practice: Test Yourself
12. Military Time in a Nutshell
13. Frequently Asked Questions

Military Time Chart: Every Hour at a Glance

Use this chart to convert any hour between standard 12-hour time and military time. Minutes stay the same, so you only need to change the hour.

Standard time	Military time	How to say it
12:00 a.m. (midnight)	0000	zero hundred
1:00 a.m.	0100	zero one hundred
2:00 a.m.	0200	zero two hundred
3:00 a.m.	0300	zero three hundred
4:00 a.m.	0400	zero four hundred
5:00 a.m.	0500	zero five hundred
6:00 a.m.	0600	zero six hundred
7:00 a.m.	0700	zero seven hundred
8:00 a.m.	0800	zero eight hundred
9:00 a.m.	0900	zero nine hundred
10:00 a.m.	1000	ten hundred
11:00 a.m.	1100	eleven hundred
12:00 p.m. (noon)	1200	twelve hundred
1:00 p.m.	1300	thirteen hundred
2:00 p.m.	1400	fourteen hundred
3:00 p.m.	1500	fifteen hundred
4:00 p.m.	1600	sixteen hundred
5:00 p.m.	1700	seventeen hundred
6:00 p.m.	1800	eighteen hundred
7:00 p.m.	1900	nineteen hundred
8:00 p.m.	2000	twenty hundred
9:00 p.m.	2100	twenty-one hundred
10:00 p.m.	2200	twenty-two hundred
11:00 p.m.	2300	twenty-three hundred

Minutes simply attach to the hour. For example, 4:45 p.m. is 1645, said “sixteen forty-five”. Likewise, 12:30 a.m. is 0030, said “zero zero thirty”.

What Is Military Time?

Military time is a way of writing the 24-hour clock. Instead of counting to 12 twice and adding a.m. or p.m., you count the hours from 0 to 23. Each time gets a unique four-digit number, so there is never any doubt about morning or evening.

The idea is not unique to the military. In fact, most of the world uses the 24-hour clock in daily life, on train timetables and on digital devices. In the US and some other countries, however, people mostly use the 12-hour clock. That is why Americans often call the 24-hour format “military time”.

Military Time vs the 24-Hour Clock

The two are almost identical. The main differences are in style. Military time usually drops the colon, so 14:30 becomes 1430. It also has a distinctive spoken form, such as “fourteen thirty hours”. In addition, military users often add a time zone letter, such as Z for UTC.

How to Convert Standard Time to Military Time

Converting takes only a few seconds once you know the rules. Follow these steps.

1. For times from 1:00 a.m. to 11:59 a.m.: write the hour with a leading zero if needed, then the minutes. So 6:15 a.m. becomes 0615.
2. For times from 12:00 p.m. to 12:59 p.m.: keep the hour as 12. So 12:40 p.m. becomes 1240.
3. For times from 1:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.: add 12 to the hour. So 8:20 p.m. becomes 2020.
4. For times from 12:00 a.m. to 12:59 a.m.: change the 12 to 00. So 12:05 a.m. becomes 0005.

Conversion Examples

Standard time	Rule	Military time
5:30 a.m.	Add a leading zero	0530
11:15 a.m.	Keep as is	1115
12:45 p.m.	Noon hour stays 12	1245
2:10 p.m.	2 + 12 = 14	1410
9:55 p.m.	9 + 12 = 21	2155
12:20 a.m.	Midnight hour becomes 00	0020

How to Convert Back to a.m. and p.m.

Going the other way is just as easy. First, look at the first two digits, which give the hour. Next, apply one of these rules.

• 00: the hour is 12 a.m. So 0045 is 12:45 a.m.
• 01 to 11: the time is a.m. Drop any leading zero. So 0815 is 8:15 a.m.
• 12: the time is p.m. So 1230 is 12:30 p.m.
• 13 to 23: subtract 12, and the time is p.m. So 1950 is 7:50 p.m.

How to Say 24-Hour Times Out Loud

Military time has its own spoken style. It sounds formal at first, but it follows simple patterns.

On the Hour

Say the hour, then “hundred”. So 0600 is “zero six hundred” and 1800 is “eighteen hundred”. Many people add “hours” at the end, as in “eighteen hundred hours”. Some speakers say “oh” instead of “zero”, as in “oh six hundred”, which is common in casual speech.

With Minutes

Say the hour and the minutes as two numbers. So 1430 is “fourteen thirty” and 0915 is “zero nine fifteen”. When minutes are under ten, say both digits, so 1305 is “thirteen zero five”.

Midnight and Noon

Midnight is 0000, said “zero hundred” or simply “midnight”. Noon is 1200, said “twelve hundred”. Some organizations also use 2400 to mark the very end of a day, for example on a schedule ending at midnight. However, 0000 is the standard way to show the start of a new day.

Military Time on the Radio

Radio operators may read each digit separately to avoid confusion, so 1430 becomes “one four three zero”. They also use special pronunciations for some digits, such as “niner” for 9 and “tree” for 3. See our guide to phonetic alphabet numbers for the full list, and our radio prowords guide for the words that frame radio messages.

Do You Have to Say “Hours”?

No, “hours” is optional. It is common in formal speech, briefings and films. However, many people drop it in everyday use, especially when minutes are included. For instance, “fourteen thirty” sounds more natural than “fourteen thirty hours”.

Minutes, Seconds and Precision

Most military time uses hours and minutes only. When more precision matters, seconds can follow as two extra digits, such as 14:30:15 or 143015. You will see this mostly in logs, technical records and computer systems rather than in speech.

Converting minutes is never necessary, because they stay the same in both systems. Only the hour changes. Therefore, if you can convert the 24 hours in the chart above, you can convert any time of day.

Adding Time Zones: The Zulu Suffix

On its own, military time shows the hour but not the time zone. So the military adds a letter to make the zone clear. The most common is Z, spoken “Zulu”, which means Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For example, 1500Z means 15:00 UTC.

Each time zone has its own letter, from Alpha (UTC+1) to Yankee (UTC-12), and J stands for local time. Our guide to Zulu time and military time zones has the full table and conversion examples. The letters come from the military alphabet, which is the same as the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Who Uses the 24-Hour Clock?

Despite the name, many groups beyond the armed forces use military time. Here are some of the most common.

• Hospitals and healthcare: Many medical teams record times in 24-hour format to avoid errors with medication and charts.
• Aviation: Pilots and controllers use the 24-hour clock, usually in UTC. Our aviation phonetic alphabet guide explains more radio conventions.
• Emergency services: Police, fire and dispatch centers often log calls in 24-hour time.
• Transportation: Many train, bus and airline timetables use the 24-hour clock.
• Computing: Logs and timestamps commonly use 24-hour format.

The common thread is clarity. When a mistake about a.m. or p.m. could cause real harm, a 24-hour clock removes the risk.

Why the Format Is So Useful

The biggest benefit is that every time is unique. There is only one 0700 in a day, so nobody confuses morning with evening. As a result, plans, logs and records stay clear.

It also makes time math easier. For example, working out the gap between 0930 and 1715 is simpler without switching from a.m. to p.m. In addition, the format sorts neatly in spreadsheets and databases, because the numbers increase through the day.

For official time in the US, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) maintains the national time standards that many clocks synchronize to.

Common Conversion Mistakes

• Writing 2400 for the start of a day. Use 0000 for midnight at the start of a day.
• Adding a.m. or p.m. Military time does not need them. “1400 p.m.” is redundant.
• Forgetting the leading zero. Write 0800, not 800, in formal military style.
• Adding 12 to the noon hour. 12:30 p.m. is 1230, not 2430.
• Saying “fourteen hundred” for 1400 hours plus minutes. If there are minutes, say them: 1420 is “fourteen twenty”.

Practice: Test Yourself

Try converting these times, then check your answers below.

1. 7:45 a.m.
2. 3:30 p.m.
3. 11:59 p.m.
4. 12:15 a.m.
5. 1820
6. 0005

Answers: 0745, 1530, 2359, 0015, 6:20 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. If you got them all right, you can read military time with confidence. Next, you might enjoy learning the code words behind military speech in our military slang guide.

Military Time in a Nutshell

Military time is the 24-hour clock written as four digits. Morning hours keep a leading zero, afternoon hours add 12, midnight is 0000 and noon is 1200. Keep the chart above handy, practice a few conversions, and add a zone letter like Zulu whenever the time zone matters.