Military Time is a time format using a 24 Hour Time system that eliminates the need for the designations "A.M." and "P.M.". Military Time is sometimes referred to as "24 Hour Time". Military Time is used today for one reason: razor-sharp clarity. This time format was adopted by the Navy in 1920 and is currently used by US military, first responders, aviation, hospitals and other organizations. It eliminates the need for AM or PM notations as Military Time works from the 24-hour clock.
Hours | Minutes | Convert! |
Convert military time to AM/PM time |
Converting from Military time to 12-hour (AM/PM) time is a straight-forward equation with the hour format (HH), and minute format (MM) and a few military notations.
This is important because Military Time doesn’t use AM or PM to denote morning or afternoon. This is intentional. Military Time serves a direct purpose in clarifying time of day and time zone without possible confusion of AM or PM. In order to convert the time, we need to distinguish if the number is before or after midday. If the number is smaller than 1200, it’s the morning. If it’s greater than 1200, it’s the afternoon. Remember, Military Time will always have four digits, including the times early in morning like 7am which would be 0700 Hours.
Example: 1700 Hours. 17 is greater than 12 which denotes it's afternoon
Now we need our time in the right format. If the number is greater, noting the afternoon, subtract 12 and remove “hours”. This will give us the afternoon hour based on a 12h time clock. Then insert the minutes and add PM to identify after midday.
Example: 1845 Hours
Now after completing Step 1 you find the number to be less than 12, we are in the morning. On Military Time, morning starts at 0000 and ends at 1200. This is essentially the same format as the 12 hour clock except you will see leading zeros before the hour digit. Remove the leading zero and ad AM.
Example: 1700 hours
Military Time | Regular Time |
0000 | 12:00 AM |
0100 | 1:00 AM |
0200 | 2:00 AM |
0300 | 3:00 AM |
0400 | 4:00 AM |
0500 | 5:00 AM |
0600 | 6:00 AM |
0700 | 7:00 AM |
0800 | 8:00 AM |
0900 | 9:00 AM |
1000 | 10:00 AM |
1100 | 11:00 AM |
1200 | 12:00 PM |
1300 | 1:00 PM |
1400 | 2:00 PM |
1500 | 3:00 PM |
1600 | 4:00 PM |
1700 | 5:00 PM |
1800 | 6:00 PM |
1900 | 7:00 PM |
2000 | 8:00 PM |
2100 | 9:00 PM |
2200 | 10:00 PM |
2300 | 11:00 PM |