For example, while 1 a. m. is 0100 hours, 1 p. m. is 1300 hours. Contrary to popular belief, the military does not also call midnight 2400 hours, or “Twenty-Four Hundred Hours. "
4 a. m. is 0400 hours. 5 a. m. is 0500 hours. 6 a. m. is 0600 hours. 7 a. m. is 0700 hours. 8 a. m. is 0800 hours.
4 p. m. is 1600 hours. 5 p. m. is 1700 hours. 6 p. m. is 1800 hours. 10 p. m. is 2200 hours. 11 p. m. is 2300 hours.
0100 hours is “Zero One Hundred Hours. " 0200 hours is “Zero Two Hundred Hours. " 0300 hours is “Zero Three Hundred Hours. " 1100 hours is “Eleven Hundred Hours. " 2300 hours is “Twenty Three Hundred Hours. " Note that in the military, “Zero” is always used to signify the zero digit in front of a number. “Oh” is used more casually. Note that using “hours” is optional.
If there are one or more zeros in front of the number, say them. 0003 is “Zero Zero Zero Three Hours” and 0215 is “Zero Two Fifteen Hours. " If there are no zeros in the first two digits of the number, then just say the first two numbers as a set with a tens and ones digit, and do the same with the last two digits. 1234 becomes “Twelve Thirty-Four Hours” and 1444 becomes “Fourteen Forty-Four Hours. " If the last number ends in zero, just think of it as the ones unit paired with the tens digit to its left. Therefore, 0130 is “Zero One Thirty. "
If you’re looking at a time less than 1200, then you know you’re working with numbers from midnight until noon. Simply use the first two digits to get the a. m. hour, and the last two digits to get the minutes to convert to military time. For example, 0950 hours means 9 hours and 50 minutes, or 9:50 a. m. 1130 hours means 11 hours and 30 minutes, or 11:30 a. m.
