Understanding and Using Military Time

Military time is used to prevent confusion between a.m. If you were to arrange to meet a friend at 8, how would your friend know whether you meant 8 a.m. With military time, no confusion exists because 0800 is 8 a.m. Of course, what they’re really doing is using the 24-hour clock, the world’s most widely used time format. In military time, this is done by using the word "hundred," followed by "hours." You never say "thousand," even for times like 1000 (ten o’clock). The real fun starts after 12 noon when the 12-hour system jumps all the way back to 1 while the 24-hour system just keeps counting upward. In other words, for the period from 1 pm to 12 am, you have to subtract 12 to convert to the 12-hour format. Military time is a format for expressing time based on the 24-hour clock. It uses a special notation and pronunciation geared toward clarity and conciseness. The beautiful thing about military time is that it’s both concise and precise. With just four numbers and one letter, you can pinpoint an exact moment in time and even specify the time zone. Convert military time to regular time with the Military Time Converter. This calculator also does conversion to military time from regular time. Generally speaking, yes, a solar day has 24 hours. But, a day can last a few minutes longer or shorter than 24 hours because the Earth isn’t a perfect circle. For both clocks, be careful to understand how to write the times of day in their proper formats. The 24-hour clock is also used for other official purposes around the world.