This military time converter translates 24-hour times like 1730 into standard 12-hour AM/PM times like 5:30 PM, and back. It handles the two cases everyone stumbles on — midnight (0000) and noon (1200) — and includes the full hourly conversion chart.
Military time runs the day continuously from 0000 to 2359, which removes the single biggest source of scheduling errors: the AM/PM mix-up. That is why it is standard not just in the armed forces but in hospitals, aviation, emergency services, and most of the world outside the US, where 24-hour notation is simply how clocks work.
The Conversion Rule
Two directions, one rule each:
- Military → standard: hours 0–11 are AM (0000 becomes 12:00 AM, 0930 becomes 9:30 AM); hour 12 is noon; for 13–23, subtract 12 and add PM (1730 − 1200 = 5:30 PM)
- Standard → military: AM hours stay as-is except 12 AM, which becomes 00; PM hours add 12 except 12 PM, which stays 12 (5:30 PM + 12 = 1730)
Minutes never change in either direction — only the hour transforms.
Midnight and Noon — the Tricky Cases
The 12s cause nearly all conversion mistakes:
- 12:00 AM (midnight) = 0000 — the day starts at zero hours
- 12:00 PM (noon) = 1200
- 12:30 AM = 0030, not 1230 — half past midnight is zero hours thirty
- 2400 vs 0000: both are midnight; 2400 is used to mark the end of one day (a shift ending "at 2400 Friday"), while 0000 starts the next. On a clock they are the same instant.
The deeper logic: "12 AM" and "12 PM" are historical quirks — the 24-hour system replaces them with unambiguous numbers, which is exactly why hospitals chart medication times in military format.
Reading and Speaking Military Time
Convention for saying times out loud:
- 0800 — "zero eight hundred" (8:00 AM)
- 1230 — "twelve thirty" (12:30 PM)
- 1730 — "seventeen thirty" (5:30 PM)
- 2005 — "twenty zero five" (8:05 PM)
The word "hours" is often appended in military usage ("report at zero six hundred hours"). Note that international 24-hour notation writes a colon (17:30) while US military style typically omits it (1730) — both mean the same time, and this converter accepts either.
Full Military Time Chart
The afternoon and evening rows are the ones people actually look up, because that is where the two systems diverge. The most-searched conversions:
- 1300 military time is 1:00 PM
- 1330 military time is 1:30 PM
- 1400 military time is 2:00 PM
- 1430 military time is 2:30 PM
- 1500 military time is 3:00 PM
- 1530 military time is 3:30 PM
- 1600 military time is 4:00 PM
- 1630 military time is 4:30 PM
- 1700 military time is 5:00 PM
- 1730 military time is 5:30 PM
- 1800 military time is 6:00 PM
- 1830 military time is 6:30 PM
- 1900 military time is 7:00 PM
- 1930 military time is 7:30 PM
- 2000 military time is 8:00 PM
- 2030 military time is 8:30 PM
- 2100 military time is 9:00 PM
- 2130 military time is 9:30 PM
- 2200 military time is 10:00 PM
- 2230 military time is 10:30 PM
- 2300 military time is 11:00 PM
- 2330 military time is 11:30 PM
Morning times need no arithmetic at all: 0900 is simply 9:00 AM, and anything from 0100 to 1159 keeps its hour.
| Military time | Standard time | Spoken as |
|---|---|---|
| 0000 | 12:00 AM | zero hundred |
| 0030 | 12:30 AM | zero zero thirty |
| 0100 | 1:00 AM | zero one hundred |
| 0130 | 1:30 AM | zero one thirty |
| 0200 | 2:00 AM | zero two hundred |
| 0230 | 2:30 AM | zero two thirty |
| 0300 | 3:00 AM | zero three hundred |
| 0330 | 3:30 AM | zero three thirty |
| 0400 | 4:00 AM | zero four hundred |
| 0430 | 4:30 AM | zero four thirty |
| 0500 | 5:00 AM | zero five hundred |
| 0530 | 5:30 AM | zero five thirty |
| 0600 | 6:00 AM | zero six hundred |
| 0630 | 6:30 AM | zero six thirty |
| 0700 | 7:00 AM | zero seven hundred |
| 0730 | 7:30 AM | zero seven thirty |
| 0800 | 8:00 AM | zero eight hundred |
| 0830 | 8:30 AM | zero eight thirty |
| 0900 | 9:00 AM | zero nine hundred |
| 0930 | 9:30 AM | zero nine thirty |
| 1000 | 10:00 AM | ten hundred |
| 1030 | 10:30 AM | ten thirty |
| 1100 | 11:00 AM | eleven hundred |
| 1130 | 11:30 AM | eleven thirty |
| 1200 | 12:00 PM | twelve hundred |
| 1230 | 12:30 PM | twelve thirty |
| 1300 | 1:00 PM | thirteen hundred |
| 1330 | 1:30 PM | thirteen thirty |
| 1400 | 2:00 PM | fourteen hundred |
| 1430 | 2:30 PM | fourteen thirty |
| 1500 | 3:00 PM | fifteen hundred |
| 1530 | 3:30 PM | fifteen thirty |
| 1600 | 4:00 PM | sixteen hundred |
| 1630 | 4:30 PM | sixteen thirty |
| 1700 | 5:00 PM | seventeen hundred |
| 1730 | 5:30 PM | seventeen thirty |
| 1800 | 6:00 PM | eighteen hundred |
| 1830 | 6:30 PM | eighteen thirty |
| 1900 | 7:00 PM | nineteen hundred |
| 1930 | 7:30 PM | nineteen thirty |
| 2000 | 8:00 PM | twenty hundred |
| 2030 | 8:30 PM | twenty thirty |
| 2100 | 9:00 PM | twenty-one hundred |
| 2130 | 9:30 PM | twenty-one thirty |
| 2200 | 10:00 PM | twenty-two hundred |
| 2230 | 10:30 PM | twenty-two thirty |
| 2300 | 11:00 PM | twenty-three hundred |
| 2330 | 11:30 PM | twenty-three thirty |
Times are written without a colon and always as four digits. A trailing "hundred" is spoken for whole hours — 1500 is "fifteen hundred", not "fifteen zero zero".
The Subtract-12 Shortcut
For any military time from 1300 onward, subtract 12 from the hour to get the PM time:
- 1500 − 12 = 3, so 3:00 PM
- 1745 − 12 = 5, so 5:45 PM
- 2130 − 12 = 9, so 9:30 PM
Going the other way, add 12 to any PM hour: 3 pm in military time is 1500, 4:00 PM becomes 1600, and 11:15 PM becomes 2315. That reverse military time conversion is the one people need when writing a schedule rather than reading one.
The minutes never change. Only the hour is converted, which is why 1937 is 7:37 PM — subtract 12 from 19 and leave the 37 alone.
To find the military time now, take the current clock time and apply the same rule. A faster mental trick for the evening hours: subtract 2 from the last digit and read it as PM. 1500 → 3 PM, 1700 → 5 PM, 1900 → 7 PM, 2100 → 9 PM. It works for 1300 through 2100 and breaks at 2200 and 2300, where you need the full subtraction.
Where Military Time Is Used
The 24-hour clock removes the AM/PM ambiguity entirely, which is why it is standard wherever a misread hour has consequences:
- US military and NATO forces, where it is spoken with the "hundred" convention
- Hospitals and emergency services, for medication timing and shift handover
- Aviation and shipping, usually in UTC and called Zulu time
- Public transport timetables across most of the world
- Most of Europe, Latin America and Asia in everyday civilian use
One notational detail worth knowing: the military often appends a time-zone letter, so 1500Z means 15:00 UTC (Zulu), while 1500R would be a different zone. Civilian 24-hour notation normally uses a colon — 15:00 rather than 1500 — which is the main visual difference between "military time" and ordinary 24-hour time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 1500 in military time?
1500 military time is 3:00 PM. Subtract 12 from the hour: 15 − 12 = 3, and the minutes stay unchanged.
What is 1700 military time?
5:00 PM. Likewise 1730 military time is 5:30 PM — subtract 12 from 17 and keep the minutes.
What is 1900 military time?
7:00 PM, and 1930 military time is 7:30 PM. For any hour from 1300 onward, subtract 12 to get the PM equivalent.
What is 2100 military time?
9:00 PM. Continuing up, 2200 is 10:00 PM and 2300 is 11:00 PM.
What time is it in military time right now?
Take the current hour and, if it is 1:00 PM or later, add 12 — so 4:20 PM becomes 1620. Before noon the hour is unchanged but padded to two digits, making 9:05 AM into 0905. Midnight is 0000 and noon is 1200.
How do you write and say military time?
Always four digits with no colon, so 0730 and 1945. Whole hours take "hundred" when spoken — 1500 is "fifteen hundred". Midnight is written 0000 and often spoken "zero hundred".
What is 1730 in military time?
1730 is 5:30 PM. For any military time from 1300 to 2359, subtract 1200 and append PM: 1730 − 1200 = 5:30 PM. Going the other way, 5:30 PM + 12 hours = 1730.
What is midnight in military time — 0000 or 2400?
Both refer to midnight. 0000 ("zero hundred") begins a new day and is the standard form; 2400 is occasionally used to mark the end of the previous day, such as a shift that runs "until 2400 Friday." Digital systems and schedules almost always use 0000.
How do I convert PM times to military time?
Add 12 to the hour, except for 12 PM (noon), which stays 12. So 1:00 PM = 1300, 5:30 PM = 1730, 11:45 PM = 2345, and 12:15 PM = 1215. AM times keep their hour, except 12 AM (midnight) which becomes 00 — 12:30 AM = 0030.
Why do hospitals and the military use 24-hour time?
Because it eliminates AM/PM ambiguity — an error class with real consequences when it means a missed medication dose or a mistimed operation. A chart entry of 0200 cannot be misread as afternoon, and no schedule needs the words "morning" or "evening" to be unambiguous.
Is military time the same as 24-hour time?
Functionally yes. "24-hour time" is the international standard (ISO 8601) written with a colon, like 17:30, and used on clocks across most of the world. "Military time" is the US name for the same system, typically written without the colon (1730) and spoken with "hours." The conversion math is identical.