PI008: How to tell Military Time Without Hurting Your Brain

You probably started hearing the lingo soon after your son or daughter decided to join the Marine Corps.  Maybe you asked, “What time will you be home from the game honey?” only to be perplexed by the reply, “Around 1900 Mom.”   I remember my husband and his friends giving me tutorials, “It’s easy.” they would say, “Just count back 2 and take off the 1.”  Really?  None of that made sense to me.  If you have trouble figuring out Military time, then this post is for you.  It takes a little getting used to but it’s not as hard as it looks.

Military time, also called the 24 hour clock has been around for a long time, but according to Wikipedia the U.S. Navy began using it in the 1920’s.  The clock runs from midnight to midnight starting at 0000 hours and ending at 2359 hours.

So let’s start with the easy part.  If you see 0100 which is pronounced “0h one hundred hours” or “zero one hundred hours” the time would be 1:00 a.m.;  0200 is 2:00 a.m. and so on up until noon which is 1200 hours, “twelve hundred hours.”

For example, if someone said “The recruit graduation starts at 0900.”  You would know that means 9:00 a.m.  If they said 0735 that would be 7:35 a.m.  But once we get past 1259, the next  number is 1300 hours which is pronounced “thirteen hundred hours.” and means 1:00 PM.  1400 hours is 2:00 p.m. and so on.

Since the time from 0100 to 1259 is the same time as 1:00 a.m. to 12:59 p.m., all you need to know is how to convert back to regular time from 1:00 p.m. until Midnight.  How do we figure out what time to meet someone at the PX if they say, “Meet me by the coffee shop at fourteen forty.  (1440)”  The easiest way I found besides counting on my fingers (which I’ve done for a number of years)  is to subtract 1200 from the time they give you.  In our example, “meet me at the coffee shop at 1440”, take 1440 and subtract 1200  which equals 240 or 2:40 p.m.

Try it with the example in the first paragraph.  “I’ll be back from the game around 1900 Mom.”  Take 1900-1200 and you get 700 or 7:00 p.m.  Write it out  a few more times and you’ll sound like an old Hat * in no time.  🙂

Did this post help you understand military time?   Are you prior military?  If so, how do you explain military time to civilians?   Leave a comment in the box below.   And sign up for my free report “Parris Island Declassified” showing you places to visit on Parris Island.

A Hat is a nickname for a drill instructor.