What are some examples of how to read a military time chart?

Military time is a 24-hour clock typically used by the armed forces and other parts of the uniformed services. Unlike the traditional 12-hour clock, military time uses four digits to represent the hour of a day, such as "1700" or "1800" hours. Despite having four digits, military time is fairly simple and straightforward to read. To help make things easier, here are some examples that demonstrate how to interpret a military time chart.

To begin, recognize that the first two digits of a time value indicate the hour that is being referenced. The last two digits point to which minute in this hour is meant. So, for instance, if a chart indicated that something was set to occur at "0930" hours, this would be taken to mean it was scheduled for 9:30am. Similarly, "2300" would be read as 11pm since it should be assumed all times are in reference to a 24-hour clock (regardless of whether daylight savings is currently in effect).

It should also be understood that digits such as 12 or 00 can cause confusion when reading military time values. To keep things clear, imagine there are three categories of times represented by military clocks — "just after midnight" (0000 – 0400), "midday/afternoon" (0800 – 1759), and "evening/nighttime" (1800 – 2359). By conjuring up these mental categories whenever you look at a military time chart, it will become easier to distinguish between ambiguous minutes like 1300 or 2200 and confirm which way they should be interpreted.

Understanding what times each value represents can also make it easier to convert from military time into the more familiar 12-hour clock format with AM and PM designations. When converting from morning/afternoon categories (0800 – 1759) just subtract 12 from any given value over 1200 for an accurate 12-hour interpretation e.g., 1500 would equal 3pm on a typical nonmilitary clockface. For evening/nighttime counterparts (1800 – 2359) simply add 12 for an accurate conversion e.g., 2000 turns into 8pm with six hours added from its original value (+12 from 1800 - +6 from 2000).