Military Time Explained

A practical method

Military time is a continuous 24-hour notation from 0000 through 2359. It removes the AM/PM label and makes the day boundary explicit, which is why it is common in transport, healthcare, emergency services, logistics, and international schedules. Written military time often omits the colon, while ordinary 24-hour time usually keeps it.

1. Read four digits as hours and minutes: The first two digits are the hour and the last two are the minutes: 1645 means 16:45.
2. Convert morning times directly: From 0100 through 1159, remove a leading zero and read the result as AM. 0830 is 8:30 AM.
3. Convert afternoon and evening times: For hours 13 through 23, subtract 12 and use PM. 2140 becomes 9:40 PM.
4. Treat noon and midnight separately: 1200 is noon. 0000 is midnight at the start of a date; 2400 is sometimes used for the end of a date but should be avoided unless a standard permits it.

Worked example

A departure listed as 2215 on 7 August leaves at 10:15 PM on 7 August. An arrival at 0045 is 12:45 AM on 8 August. Reading both values on the same date would produce the wrong sequence; the midnight crossing makes the trip 2 hours 30 minutes.

Checks, edge cases, and common mistakes

• Keep leading zeros in operational schedules so every time has four digits.
• Do not say 1500 is 5:00 PM; subtracting 12 gives 3:00 PM.
• Attach a time zone to military or 24-hour time when people are in different locations.
• Use an unambiguous date format such as 2026-08-07 when the schedule crosses borders.