How to Convert to Military Time, aka 24-Hour Clock

Military time is also known as 24-hour time. Instead of using the numbers 1 through 12 to denote times after noon, the military time system uses the numbers 0 through 23 to denote all 24 hours of the day.

For example, 12:00 AM (midnight) is 0000 hours, 8:15 AM is 0815 hours, and 2:00 PM is 1400 hours. It is also acceptable to use 2400 for midnight. This system of measuring time is used in the US military and in many other countries because it avoids confusion between AM and PM times.

To convert standard clock time to military time, you only need to adjust the hour if it occurs between 12:00 AM and 12:59 AM, or if it occurs after 12:59 PM. For times between midnight and 1:00 AM, the first two digits are 00. For times after 12:59 PM, add 12 to the hour. For example, 4:30 PM becomes 1630 hours since 4 + 12 = 16.

For AM times, it is standard to append a 0 to the front. For example, 7:20 AM is 0720 hours. All military times should have four digits.

To read military time, you can say "XX hundred," "XX hundred hours," or "XX YY hours," where XX is the hour and YY is the minutes. For instance, 0800 may be read as "Oh eight hundred hours" or simply "eight hundred." 1430 may be read as "fourteen hundred thirty hours" or simply "fourteen thirty."

To convert military time back to clock time, just separate the first two digits from the last two digits to recover the hour and minutes. If the hour is greater than 12, then you subtract 12 and note the PM change. For example, 1545 hours is 3:45 PM since 15 - 12 = 3.

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