Military Time Converter

Military time uses a 24-hour clock: 0000 to 2359. Hours go from 00 (midnight) to 23 (11 PM). There is no AM/PM. Read as 4 digits: 0830 is eight thirty, 1400 is fourteen hundred, 2230 is twenty-two thirty. To convert to 12-hour: for hours > 12, subtract 12 and add PM.

1730 military: 17 - 12 = 5, so 5:30 PM. Any hour 1300-2359: subtract 12 for PM hours. Hours 1200-1259 remain as 12:xx PM. Hours 0000-0059 are 12:xx AM. Hours 0100-1159 are the same number in AM.

To avoid ambiguity. In military, emergency services, aviation, and healthcare, mistaking 6:00 AM for 6:00 PM could be catastrophic. 24-hour time is unambiguous. Also used internationally: most of the world uses 24-hour time in formal and professional contexts.

Military uses one-letter time zone abbreviations. Z = Zulu = UTC (Greenwich). Alpha through Mike (A-M, skipping J) are east of UTC. November through Yankee (N-Y) are west of UTC. Z (Zulu) is always UTC and is the military standard time for coordination across time zones.

0000 (zero-zero-zero-zero) = midnight (start of day). It is the first moment of a new day. 2400 is technically the last moment of the day (end of day) — equivalent to 0000 of the next day. In practice, most systems use 0000 for midnight and avoid 2400. 1200 = noon exactly.