Military Time Converter
Convert military time to standard time and standard time to military time instantly. Free 24-hour clock converter with full reference chart. No signup.
How to Convert Military Time to Regular Time
Military time (24-hour clock) runs from 0000 (midnight) to 2359 (11:59 PM). Converting to standard 12-hour time follows a simple set of rules:
- Midnight: 0000 = 12:00 AM
- Morning hours (0001–1159): Remove leading zero if present, keep the same hours and minutes, add AM. 0730 → 7:30 AM. 1100 → 11:00 AM.
- Noon: 1200 = 12:00 PM
- Afternoon/evening (1201–2359): Subtract 12 from the hours, add PM. 1430 → 2:30 PM. 2200 → 10:00 PM.
The shortcut for PM hours: If the military time is 1300 or higher, subtract 1200 and add PM. 1800 − 1200 = 600 → 6:00 PM.
How to Convert Regular Time to Military Time
Converting standard 12-hour time to military time:
- AM hours (12:01 AM – 12:59 AM): Replace 12 with 00. 12:30 AM → 0030.
- AM hours (1:00 AM – 11:59 AM): Pad the hour to 2 digits, remove the colon. 7:45 AM → 0745. 11:30 AM → 1130.
- 12:00 PM (noon): 1200
- PM hours (12:01 PM – 12:59 PM): Keep as 12xx. 12:45 PM → 1245.
- PM hours (1:00 PM – 11:59 PM): Add 12 to the hour. 3:00 PM → 1500. 10:45 PM → 2245.
Example conversions:
| Standard Time | Military Time | Standard Time | Military Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 0000 | 12:00 PM (noon) | 1200 |
| 1:00 AM | 0100 | 1:00 PM | 1300 |
| 6:30 AM | 0630 | 6:30 PM | 1830 |
| 9:00 AM | 0900 | 9:00 PM | 2100 |
| 11:59 AM | 1159 | 11:59 PM | 2359 |
Complete Military Time Chart: 24-Hour Reference
| Military | Standard | Military | Standard | Military | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0000 | 12:00 AM | 0800 | 8:00 AM | 1600 | 4:00 PM |
| 0100 | 1:00 AM | 0900 | 9:00 AM | 1700 | 5:00 PM |
| 0200 | 2:00 AM | 1000 | 10:00 AM | 1800 | 6:00 PM |
| 0300 | 3:00 AM | 1100 | 11:00 AM | 1900 | 7:00 PM |
| 0400 | 4:00 AM | 1200 | 12:00 PM | 2000 | 8:00 PM |
| 0500 | 5:00 AM | 1300 | 1:00 PM | 2100 | 9:00 PM |
| 0600 | 6:00 AM | 1400 | 2:00 PM | 2200 | 10:00 PM |
| 0700 | 7:00 AM | 1500 | 3:00 PM | 2300 | 11:00 PM |
Who Uses Military Time?
The 24-hour clock is the global standard in most professional and international contexts:
- Military and defense: All branches of the US military use 24-hour time to eliminate AM/PM ambiguity. Orders, schedules, and communications are in military time. "Report at oh-six-hundred" = 6:00 AM.
- Aviation: All flight times, air traffic control, and aviation weather use UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) in 24-hour format. A flight departing at 1445 departs at 2:45 PM.
- Medicine and hospitals: Medical records, medication schedules, and procedure times use 24-hour format worldwide to prevent dangerous AM/PM errors. A medication ordered for 0800 and 2000 means 8 AM and 8 PM — unambiguous.
- International travel: Train and bus schedules in Europe, Asia, and most of the world use 24-hour time. A train departing at 21:15 departs at 9:15 PM.
- Computing: ISO 8601 (the international standard for dates and times) uses 24-hour format. Timestamps in logs, databases, and APIs are typically in 24-hour time.
- Emergency services: Police, fire, and EMS dispatch use 24-hour time in many jurisdictions to prevent errors in incident logs and reports.
Only a handful of countries — primarily the US, Canada, Australia, and a few others — primarily use the 12-hour clock in everyday civilian life. Most of the world's population defaults to 24-hour time.
How to Say Military Time Out Loud
Military time is spoken differently than you might expect:
- 0000: "Zero hundred" or "zero hundred hours"
- 0100: "Zero one hundred hours"
- 0600: "Zero six hundred" (often "oh-six-hundred")
- 1000: "Ten hundred hours"
- 1200: "Twelve hundred hours"
- 1430: "Fourteen thirty" (NOT "fourteen hundred thirty")
- 1500: "Fifteen hundred hours"
- 2200: "Twenty-two hundred hours"
When hours have minutes, you say both together: 0745 = "zero seven forty-five." The word "hours" is often appended for clarity, especially in formal military contexts. NATO military time conventions also specify time zones — "1430Z" means 1430 Zulu time (UTC).
Military Time Zones: Zulu and the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Military operations span time zones, so NATO assigns a letter to each time zone from A (Alpha) to Z (Zulu). The most important ones:
| NATO Letter | Phonetic | UTC Offset | Example Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z | Zulu | UTC+0 | London (winter), Reykjavik |
| A | Alpha | UTC+1 | Central European Time (winter) |
| R | Romeo | UTC-5 | Eastern Standard Time (US) |
| S | Sierra | UTC-6 | Central Standard Time (US) |
| T | Tango | UTC-7 | Mountain Standard Time (US) |
| U | Uniform | UTC-8 | Pacific Standard Time (US) |
Zulu time (UTC) is the universal reference in all military, aviation, and navigation contexts. When coordinating operations across time zones, everyone uses Zulu to eliminate conversion errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 1800 in military time?
1800 military time = 6:00 PM. Subtract 1200: 1800 − 1200 = 600 → 6:00. Since it is past noon, it is PM.
What is 2100 in military time?
2100 military time = 9:00 PM. 2100 − 1200 = 900 → 9:00 PM.
What is midnight in military time?
Midnight is 0000 in military time (sometimes written as 2400 to denote the end of a day, but 0000 is more common and is the start of a new day).
What is noon in military time?
Noon is 1200 in military time. It is the one time where AM/PM and military time have the same digits.
How do you say 0000 in military time?
0000 is called "zero hundred hours." It represents midnight — the start of a new day. It may also be spoken as "oh-oh-hundred hours."
Is 2400 or 0000 midnight in military time?
Both are used. 0000 refers to the very beginning of a day (midnight start). 2400 refers to the very end of a day (midnight end). In practice, the US military uses 0000 for midnight; 2400 is used in some scheduling contexts to mean "the last minute of this date."
What is 1500 in military time?
1500 military time = 3:00 PM. 1500 − 1200 = 300 → 3:00 PM. Spoken as "fifteen hundred hours."
How is military time different from the 24-hour clock?
Military time and 24-hour clock are essentially the same system. The primary difference is notation:
— 24-hour clock uses a colon: 14:30
— Military time omits the colon and uses exactly 4 digits: 1430
Military time also has specific spoken conventions ("fourteen thirty," not "two thirty PM") and is linked to NATO time zone letters.
What time is 0800 in regular time?
0800 = 8:00 AM. Hours before 1200 (noon) are the same in military and AM time — just add AM and a colon. "Oh-eight-hundred hours" is a common military phrase meaning early morning briefing or formation time.
Why does the military use 24-hour time?
The 24-hour clock eliminates AM/PM ambiguity, which can be critical in military operations. An order to "attack at 0200" (2:00 AM) versus "attack at 1400" (2:00 PM) cannot be confused. In high-stakes, fast-moving environments where a 12-hour misunderstanding could be catastrophic, the 24-hour system is the safest convention.