Military Time: How to Read, Say and Convert the 24 Hour Clock

Military time uses a 24 hour clock, so every hour of the day has its own number and there is no need for AM or PM.

It is used by the armed forces, police, fire and EMS, hospitals, airlines and many other jobs where a mixup between morning and evening could cause serious problems.

How to Read It

Military time is written as four digits with no colon. The first two digits are the hour and the last two are the minutes. For example, 0730 is 7:30 AM and 1945 is 7:45 PM.

How to Say It

Say each pair of numbers. 0800 is said zero eight hundred or oh eight hundred, 1430 is fourteen thirty and 2100 is twenty one hundred. Many people add the word hours, as in fourteen hundred hours.

Quick Conversion Rules

• From midnight to 12:59 PM, the hours look almost the same as standard time. Just add a leading zero for hours before 10, such as 0900 for 9:00 AM.
• Midnight is 0000 and noon is 1200.
• For 1:00 PM and later, add 12 to the hour. For example, 3:00 PM becomes 1500.
• To go back to standard time, subtract 12 from any hour of 1300 or more. For example, 2200 becomes 10:00 PM.

Military Time Chart

Pin Tip

Set your phone to the 24 hour clock for a week. It is the fastest way to start reading military time without thinking about it.