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US Military
Military Time
Militarypay.com explains the basic concept of Military Time for the users and tries to explain in a very simple manner.
Military time is an unambiguous, concise method of expressing time used by the military, law enforcement, hospitals, and other entities. Military Times uses a 24-hour time scale that makes the use of a.m. or p.m. unnecessary. Midnight corresponds to 00:00; 1.p.m. corresponds to 13:00, and so on.
In a nutshell Military time is based on a 24 hours clock which begins each day at midnight (which is 0000 hrs). Commonly known as "military" time, and formally referred as Universal Military Time [UMT], the 24-hour clock is the normal method of indicating time when using your radio.
Converting to military time is quick and easy with a little practice. Since the day is divided into 24-hours, references to "AM" or "PM" are no longer needed. Any number higher than 1200 equals a PM time period.
Another benefit of using military time is that time is always referred to in hundreds of hours. For example, 0200 Hours is reported as "Zero Two Hundred Hours" and 1700 Hours is reported as Seventeen Hundred Hours.
- Some military people use terms similar to a form of "military shorthand" when referring to time. For example, the term "Oh Dark Thirty" is not an actual time. But military people use the term to refer to "sometime during the middle of the night" or "sometime very, very early in the morning."
- Sometimes a military person will refer to Zero Five Hundred [0500 Hours] as "Oh Five Hundred." The 0500 is a number, not a letter, so the reference is technically incorrect. However, it's not an uncommon reference.
- Official military time for mid-night is 0000 Hrs, but many people and reputable sources also use 2400 Hrs.
The following table provides a convenient way to convert between military time and regular time.
| Regular Time |
Military Time |
Regular Time |
Military Time |
| Midnight | 00:00 | Noon | 12:00 |
| 1:00 a.m. | 01:00 | 1:00 p.m. | 13:00 |
| 2:00 a.m. | 02:00 | 2:00 p.m. | 14:00 |
| 3:00 a.m. | 03:00 | 3:00 p.m. | 15:00 |
| 4:00 a.m. | 04:00 | 4:00 p.m. | 16:00 |
| 5:00 a.m. | 05:00 | 5:00 p.m. | 17:00 |
| 6:00 a.m. | 06:00 | 6:00 p.m. | 18:00 |
| 7:00 a.m. | 07:00 | 7:00 p.m. | 19:00 |
| 8:00 a.m. | 08:00 | 8:00 p.m. | 20:00 |
| 9:00 a.m. | 09:00 | 9:00 p.m. | 21:00 |
| 10:00 a.m. | 10:00 | 10:00 p.m. | 22:00 |
| 11:00 a.m. | 11:00 | 11:00 p.m. | 23:00 |
Example
Assume that an event will occur on Wednesday, March 5th at 00:01 PST. This translates to one minute past midnight PST on Wednesday morning.
Military vs. Civilian time
Here's the whole list:
| Civilian Time | Military Time |
| Midnight (12:00 AM) | 0000 hrs |
| 1:00 AM | 0100 hrs |
| 2:00 AM | 0200 hrs |
| 3:00 AM | 0300 hrs |
| 4:00 AM | 0400 hrs |
| 5:00 AM | 0500 hrs |
| 6:00 AM | 0600 hrs |
| 7:00 AM | 0700 hrs |
| 8:00 AM | 0800 hrs |
| 9:00 AM | 0900 hrs |
| 10:00 AM | 1000 hrs |
| 11:00 AM | 1100 hrs |
| 12:00 PM | 1200 hrs |
| 1:00 PM | 1300 hrs |
| 2:00 PM | 1400 hrs |
| 3:00 PM | 1500 hrs |
| 4:00 PM | 1600 hrs |
| 5:00 PM | 1700 hrs |
| 6:00 PM | 1800 hrs |
| 7:00 PM | 1900 hrs |
| 8:00 PM | 2000 hrs |
| 9:00 PM | 2100 hrs |
| 10:00 PM | 2200 hrs |
| 11:00 PM | 2300 hrs |
Minutes are listed in the third and 4th number position. So, 5:15 AM is 0515 hrs. 10:30 PM is 2230 hrs.
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