Learning to tell military time seems a little daunting, but with our easy guide, you’ll speak fluent military time, well, in no time!
What Is Military Time?
First things first: Military time is based on a 24-hour clock instead of a 12-hour clock that magically switches from a.m. to p.m. at noon. Military time starts with 0000 (midnight) and ends at 2359 (11:59 p.m.). That’s right, it’s just one long digit—like an acronym, but with numbers.
Also Read: Your spouse just retired. Now your child wants to enlist. WTF.
The reason the military does this is to prevent any and all types of confusion on the battlefield. Storming the beach at 10:00 has no room for interpretation of a.m. to p.m. if it’s in military time.
So how do you tell military time? The easiest way to remember it involves a little bit of basic math. Before 10:00 a.m. (the first “double digit” time of the day), you simply add a zero to the beginning of the number. Three in the morning? 0300. Six a.m. wakeup? 0600. Doctor’s appointment at 9:30? 0930. You get it!
Then, 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. (noon) all get to be left alone. 1000 hours = 10:00. 1100 hours = 11:00. 1200 hours? Yep, 12:00.
Now, here’s where it gets a little more complicated: After 12:59 p.m., instead of the clock striking 1:00 again (falling victim to the 12-hour clock!), we’re going into 24-hour mode. That means after 12 comes the number 13. So, 1:00 in the afternoon is actually 1300 in military time.
The easiest way to remember this is to add the number 12 to the p.m. hour digit. For example, for 1:00, add 12 to the number 1 (hour digit): 12 + 1 = 13; therefore, it’s 1300 hours. For 5:00 p.m., we’d add 12 to 5, so 17, thus 1700 hours.
A Military Time Cheat Sheet
Here’s a handy guide just in case you need a little extra help:
What is 0000 in military time? It’s midnight or 12:00 a.m.
What is 0100 in military time? 1:00 a.m.
What is 0200 in military time? 2:00 a.m.
What is 0300 in military time? 3:00 a.m.
What is 0400 in military time? 4:00 a.m.
What is 0500 in military time? 5:00 a.m.
What is 0600 in military time? 6:00 a.m.
What is 0700 in military time? 7:00 a.m.
What is 0800 in military time? 8:00 a.m.
What is 0900 in military time? 9:00 a.m.
What is 1000 in military time? 10:00 a.m.
What is 1100 in military time? 11:00 a.m.
What is 1200 in military time? 12:00 p.m.
What is 1300 in military time? 1:00 p.m.
What is 1400 in military time? 2:00 p.m.
What is 1500 in military time? 3:00 p.m.
What is 1600 in military time? 4:00 p.m.
What is 1700 in military time? 5:00 p.m.
What is 1800 in military time? 6:00 p.m.
What is 1900 in military time? 7:00 p.m.
What is 2000 in military time? 8:00 p.m.
What is 2100 in military time? 9:00 p.m.
What is 2200 in military time? 10:00 p.m.
What is 2300 in military time? 11:00 p.m.
After all of that, you might need a drink. As they say… it’s 1700 somewhere.
