How do you convert military time to regular time, and when is this necessary?

Converting military time to regular time is an important skill to learn if you're dealing with military organizations, scientific measurement, or international aviation. Knowing how to quickly and accurately convert from one type of timekeeping to the other saves you time and effort, and can prevent mistakes in data entry and scheduling.

Military time is based on a 24-hour clock, which starts at midnight (00:00) and ends at midnight (24:00). Each hour is broken down into minutes, so 8:17 in standard time would be 0817 in military time. It's important to remember that there's no colon between the hours and minutes in military time.

The reason for this system is simple - with a 24-hour clock, there's no confusion over whether a particular hour is morning or afternoon. With traditional 12-hour clocks, "13 o'clock" could mean 1 PM or 1 AM, which can lead to confusion. This can complicate things like flight schedules and certain procedures in the medical field where precision timing is a must.

To convert military time (represented by a 4 digit number) to standard/regular/civilian time, simply take off the first two digits to reveal the hour information in standard format. For example 2300 becomes 11PM. Add 12 hours if it's greater than 12PM, turn it into single digits if need be (1900 becomes 7pm), that's all there is to it!

See more about military time chart