Military Time Guide: How to Read, Write, and Convert 24-Hour Time
Military time — also called the 24-hour clock — is used by the military, aviation, healthcare, and most of the world outside the US. Here is a complete plain-English guide with a full conversion chart.
What Is Military Time?
Military time is the 24-hour clock expressed in a specific format: four digits without a colon, followed by the time zone indicator. 0800 is 8:00 AM. 1430 is 2:30 PM. 2359 is 11:59 PM. The word "hours" is spoken after the time: "fourteen thirty hours."
The 24-hour system runs from 0000 (midnight, start of day) to 2359 (one minute before the next midnight). Every hour of the day has a unique four-digit code — eliminating the AM/PM ambiguity of the 12-hour system entirely.
How to Read Military Time
Reading military time is straightforward once you understand the structure. The first two digits are the hour (00–23). The last two digits are the minutes (00–59).
- Hours 00–12 are the same as 12:00 AM to 12:00 PM (midnight to noon)
- Hours 13–23 are read by adding "PM" context: 13 = 1 PM, 14 = 2 PM, etc.
- The spoken form removes the leading zero: 0800 = "oh eight hundred hours"
- Midday hours: 1200 = "twelve hundred hours" (noon)
- Midnight: 0000 = "zero zero hundred hours" or "twenty-four hundred hours" at day's end
Complete Military Time Conversion Chart
How to Convert Standard Time to Military Time
For AM times (except 12:xx AM):
Simply write the hour as two digits (add a leading zero if needed) and append the minutes. 7:45 AM → 0745. 11:30 AM → 1130.
For 12:xx AM (midnight hour):
Replace 12 with 00. 12:00 AM → 0000. 12:45 AM → 0045.
For PM times (except 12:xx PM):
Add 12 to the hour. 1:00 PM → 1300. 5:30 PM → 1730. 11:00 PM → 2300.
For 12:xx PM (noon hour):
Keep 12 as-is. 12:00 PM → 1200. 12:30 PM → 1230.
Who Uses Military Time
Military and defense
The US military, NATO forces, and most national militaries worldwide use 24-hour time to avoid AM/PM errors in orders, logs, and communications where precision is critical.
Aviation
All international aviation uses UTC (often called Zulu time in aviation contexts) in 24-hour format. Flight plans, ATC communications, and METAR weather reports all use military-style time.
Healthcare and emergency services
Hospitals, emergency rooms, and EMTs record events in 24-hour time to eliminate ambiguity in medical records — a medication administered at "8:00" could be AM or PM, but 0800 or 2000 is unambiguous.
International business and computing
Most of Europe, South America, and Asia uses 24-hour time in written contexts. All major computing systems (servers, databases, APIs) record timestamps in UTC 24-hour format by convention.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 0000 in military time?
0000 is midnight — the start of a new day. It is spoken as "zero zero hundred hours." At the end of a day, 2400 is sometimes used instead, referring to the same moment.
What is 1800 in military time?
1800 military time is 6:00 PM in standard 12-hour format. To convert: 18 - 12 = 6, and the minutes stay the same: 6:00 PM.
Why is military time easier to understand internationally?
The 12-hour AM/PM system is primarily used in the US, Canada, and a few other countries. The rest of the world uses 24-hour time as standard. Military time is the universal written standard for time across cultures.
Does GoClasstime show time in 24-hour format?
GoClasstime currently displays local time in 12-hour format. The world clock shows each city's local time with AM/PM notation.