Military Time Converter — 12-Hour to 24-Hour & Chart
Military time uses a 24-hour clock running from 0000 (midnight) to 2359 (11:59 PM), eliminating AM/PM ambiguity. Enter any standard 12-hour time to get the military equivalent, or convert a military time back to 12-hour format. A full 0000–2359 conversion chart with pronunciation is included below.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is military time?
Military time is a 24-hour timekeeping system that runs from 0000 (midnight) to 2359 (one minute before the next midnight). It eliminates the need for AM and PM by counting hours continuously from 0 to 23, preventing any ambiguity about morning versus evening times.
How do you convert 12-hour time to military time?
For AM times (1:00 AM–11:59 AM), keep the hour and pad it to two digits (e.g., 9:15 AM = 0915). For 12:00 AM midnight, use 0000. For PM times (1:00 PM–11:59 PM), add 12 to the hour (e.g., 3:45 PM = 1545). For 12:00 PM noon, keep 1200.
How do you convert military time back to standard time?
For 0000–0059, the hour is 12 AM (midnight hour). For 0100–1159, drop any leading zero for the AM hour. For 1200–1259, keep 12 PM. For 1300–2359, subtract 12 from the hour and add PM. For example, 1830 − 12 = 6:30 PM.
What is 1800 in military time?
1800 in military time is 6:00 PM. To convert: 18 − 12 = 6, so 1800 = 6:00 PM. It is pronounced 'eighteen hundred hours.'
What is midnight in military time?
Midnight is 0000 in military time, also written as 0000 hours. It represents the start of a new day. The last moment of a day is 2359.
Is military time the same as the 24-hour clock?
Military time and the 24-hour clock represent identical values but differ in notation and pronunciation. Military time is written without a colon (e.g., 1430) and pronounced 'fourteen thirty.' The 24-hour clock typically uses a colon (14:30) and is used in everyday civilian contexts in most countries outside the US.
Who uses military time in daily life?
Military time is used by the armed forces, hospitals, emergency services, aviation, and transportation worldwide. Most countries outside the United States use the 24-hour format as their everyday standard for timetables, broadcasting, and official documents.
How do you say military time out loud?
Read the hours and minutes as a four-digit number. Times on the hour are called 'hundred hours' (e.g., 1400 = 'fourteen hundred hours'). Times with minutes are read straight through (e.g., 1430 = 'fourteen thirty'). Hours 0100–0900 are preceded by 'zero' (e.g., 0800 = 'zero eight hundred hours').
Military Time — Complete Reference Guide
What Is Military Time?
Military time is a timekeeping method based on the 24-hour clock that runs from midnight (0000) to 2359. Instead of repeating 1–12 twice with AM and PM suffixes, military time counts continuously from 0000 at midnight to 2359 just before the next midnight. This eliminates ambiguity — there is no confusion between 6:00 in the morning and 6:00 in the evening.
Military time is pronounced differently from the 24-hour clock used in Europe. For example, 1430 is spoken as "fourteen thirty" rather than "two thirty PM." Times on the hour are spoken as "hundred hours" (e.g., 1400 = "fourteen hundred hours").
Key fact: Military time and the 24-hour clock represent the same values but differ in notation and pronunciation. Military time is written without a colon (1430), while the 24-hour clock typically uses a colon (14:30).
How to Convert Between Military and Standard Time
Standard (12-hour) to Military Time
- AM hours (1:00 AM – 11:59 AM): Keep the hour the same, pad to two digits. 9:15 AM becomes 0915.
- 12:00 AM (midnight): This becomes 0000 — the special case where 12 wraps to 0.
- PM hours (1:00 PM – 11:59 PM): Add 12 to the hour. 3:45 PM becomes 1545.
- 12:00 PM (noon): Stays 1200 — noon is the one PM time where you do not add 12.
Military Time to Standard (12-hour)
- 0000–0059: These are 12:00 AM – 12:59 AM. Subtract nothing; replace leading hour with 12.
- 0100–1159: These are 1:00 AM – 11:59 AM. Drop leading zeros for the hour.
- 1200–1259: These are 12:00 PM – 12:59 PM. Keep hour as 12, add PM.
- 1300–2359: These are 1:00 PM – 11:59 PM. Subtract 12 from the hour and add PM.
| Standard | Military | Rule Applied |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM | 0000 | 12 AM → 0 |
| 6:30 AM | 0630 | AM: keep hour, pad |
| 12:00 PM | 1200 | 12 PM stays 12 |
| 2:45 PM | 1445 | PM: 2 + 12 = 14 |
| 11:59 PM | 2359 | PM: 11 + 12 = 23 |
Military Time Conversion Chart (0000–2359)
The table below shows every hour of the day in military, standard 12-hour, and 24-hour formats. Minutes follow the same mapping — just append the two-digit minute value to the hour block (e.g., 14 hours 30 minutes = 1430).
| Military | 12-Hour | 24-Hour | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0000 | 12:00 AM | 00:00 | Zero hundred hours |
| 0100 | 1:00 AM | 01:00 | Zero one hundred hours |
| 0200 | 2:00 AM | 02:00 | Zero two hundred hours |
| 0300 | 3:00 AM | 03:00 | Zero three hundred hours |
| 0400 | 4:00 AM | 04:00 | Zero four hundred hours |
| 0500 | 5:00 AM | 05:00 | Zero five hundred hours |
| 0600 | 6:00 AM | 06:00 | Zero six hundred hours |
| 0700 | 7:00 AM | 07:00 | Zero seven hundred hours |
| 0800 | 8:00 AM | 08:00 | Zero eight hundred hours |
| 0900 | 9:00 AM | 09:00 | Zero nine hundred hours |
| 1000 | 10:00 AM | 10:00 | Ten hundred hours |
| 1100 | 11:00 AM | 11:00 | Eleven hundred hours |
| 1200 | 12:00 PM | 12:00 | Twelve hundred hours |
| 1300 | 1:00 PM | 13:00 | Thirteen hundred hours |
| 1400 | 2:00 PM | 14:00 | Fourteen hundred hours |
| 1500 | 3:00 PM | 15:00 | Fifteen hundred hours |
| 1600 | 4:00 PM | 16:00 | Sixteen hundred hours |
| 1700 | 5:00 PM | 17:00 | Seventeen hundred hours |
| 1800 | 6:00 PM | 18:00 | Eighteen hundred hours |
| 1900 | 7:00 PM | 19:00 | Nineteen hundred hours |
| 2000 | 8:00 PM | 20:00 | Twenty hundred hours |
| 2100 | 9:00 PM | 21:00 | Twenty-one hundred hours |
| 2200 | 10:00 PM | 22:00 | Twenty-two hundred hours |
| 2300 | 11:00 PM | 23:00 | Twenty-three hundred hours |
Minutes 01–59 use the same hour prefix. For example, 1430 = "fourteen thirty" (2:30 PM).
Who Uses Military Time?
Military time is used wherever precision and clarity matter most — where an AM/PM mix-up could have serious consequences.
Military and Defense
All branches of the US Armed Forces use military time for orders, operations logs, and communications. NATO and allied militaries worldwide follow the same convention. The 24-hour format prevents mission-critical errors that could result from AM/PM confusion.
Healthcare and Emergency Services
Hospitals, pharmacies, and emergency services use military time for medication schedules, patient records, and incident logs. A dosing error from confusing 6 AM and 6 PM can be life-threatening, so the unambiguous 0600 vs. 1800 notation is standard in clinical settings.
Aviation and Transportation
Air traffic controllers, pilots, and flight dispatchers use military time for flight plans, departure/arrival times, and incident reports. International rail and bus schedules in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere also use 24-hour format to avoid timetable confusion across time zones.
Computing and Science
Server logs, databases, and programming languages commonly use the 24-hour clock (ISO 8601 format: HH:MM:SS) for timestamps. Scientists and researchers use it to avoid data ambiguity in recordings and publications.
Everyday Use Outside the US
Most of Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia use the 24-hour clock as the everyday standard. In these regions the 12-hour AM/PM system is the exception rather than the rule.