How to Express Military Time

Military Time refers to the use of a 24-hour clock, in which the minute notation does not change. Instead of resetting to 12:00 every 12 hours, such as midnight and noon, the clock continues until it reaches the maximum in one day, or 24 hours. Military Time is expressed without a colon, ex. 2300. The first use of the 24 hour clock was in 1886 in Canada. The US Navy, in 1920, was the first U.S. organization to use it, after it's adoption by the British Navy.

Military Time is used for various defense and non-governmental organizations around the world, For instance, most medical facilities use Military Time to document individual care, to deconflict issues with using the 12-hour clock. The 12-hour clock provides two of each time, denoted by either AM, or PM. In organizations where timekeeping and log-recording are vital, mistakes can be made using the 12-hour clock. Military Time prevents this by using a unique time for each hour.

Example: "Time of death occured at 12:00." Example expressed in 12-hour time, with a forgotten AM/PM statement.

"Time of death occured at 2359." Example expressed in 24-hour time, and is clear that time of death was at midnight.

Military Time is expressed as:

For the hours before 1000, time is referred to as "Oh One Hundred" or 0100 Hours.

1000 is referred to as "Ten Hundred" Hours, up until 1200.

1300 is referred to as "Thirteen Hundred" Hours, up until 2300.

Time is not expressed with a colon, as standard time is.

See Conversion Chart to the right.