Military time vs Civilian time
Military time is based on a 24 hour clock that starts at 0000 hours (twelve midnight) and goes to 2300 hours (eleven at night). Civilian time which is the time most of us use splits the day into two 12 hour clocks and uses a.m. and p.m. to distinguish between night and day. The numbers for civilian time go from 1 to 12 only and then repeats.
When converting from the 12 hour clock to the 24 hour clock, it is not necessary to add the suffix a.m. or p.m to the time. For example one would not write 1300 pm which is equivalent to 1:00 pm. Because military time indicates a 24 hour period where a unique two digit number is assigned to identify the time and using a.m or p.m becomes redundant.
How do I convert from regular time to military time?
Converting 12 hour time to 24 hour time can be done by remembering that military time must always have two digits indicating the hours as well as two digits indicating the minutes. For example 3:00 am becomes 0300 hours. For the a.m. times this is easy to do as you just need to add a “0” in front of the time and remove the a.m. suffix. Military time also does not make use of the colon (:) used in regular time.
The p.m. times are a little harder to convert for example 2:00 pm becomes 1400 hours. An easy way to remember this is to add 12 hours onto the time and remove the p.m. suffix. Thus 2:00 pm add on 12 hours (2 + 12 = 14) becomes 1400 hours.
Below is a list of conversions starting at midnight:
| 12:00 am | 0000 hours |
| 1:00 am | 0100 hours |
| 2:00am | 0200 hours |
| 3:00 am | 0300 hours |
| 4:00 am | 0400 hours |
| 5:00 am | 0500 hours |
| 6:00 am | 0600 hours |
| 7:00 am | 0700 hours |
| 8:00 am | 0800 hours |
| 9:00 am | 0900 hours |
| 10:00 am | 1000 hours |
| 11:00 am | 1100 hours |
| 12:00 pm | 1200 hours |
| 1:00 pm | 1300 hours |
| 2:00 pm | 1400 hours |
| 3:00 pm | 1500 hours |
| 4:00 pm | 1600 hours |
| 5:00 pm | 1700 hours |
| 6:00 pm | 1800 hours |
| 7:00 pm | 1900 hours |
| 8:00 pm | 2000 hours |
| 9:00 pm | 2100 hours |
| 10:00 pm | 2200 hours |
| 11:00 pm | 2300 hours |
You might have already seen this type of time telling being used especially with computer clocks that also use a 24 hour time telling system. The GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) zone is distinguished by adding the “Z” suffix to the time for example 0900Z which is equivalent to 9:00 am.
Local time is denoted by adding a “J” at the end and Eastern Time (ET) is referred to when an “R” is added at the end. Each time zone this has a corresponding name and letter to identify it with.
Who uses Military time?
Military time is used all around the world and it is especially useful for people communicating and dealing with others from different countries and time zones. Of course the military, hospitals, pilots, astrologists and government agencies also make use of the 24 hour clock for their operations. Even electronic equipment such as a microwave oven uses the hour system.
The most crucial is perhaps medical staff. Imagine not remembering if a patient needs their medication at 6:00 am or 6:00 pm. Using military time clears up any confusion of “when”.