Or do you just stick with the civilian 12-hour clock? Because military personnel can be involved in missions that cross time zones, they need a common time zone reference, so they know they’re talking about the same thing. “Zulu” or “Z” indicates that the time zone being referenced is Greenwich Mean Time (Coordinated Universal Time), the time zone that regulates the world’s clocks. Military time employs the 24-hour format and the NATO phonetic alphabet. Learn how it works and how to convert it to a time format you’re used to. Though it may seem technical to civilians, military time is simply based on a 24-hour clock rather than a 12-hour clock that repeats with am and pm. In this case, 17 are the hours, and 30 are the minutes. Since 17 is greater than 12, subtract 12 to get the standard time hours. The use of the 24-hour clock format is also encouraged by ISO 8601 international standards — established with the intention to provide clear and specific ways to communicate date and time. So, what are the main benefits of using the chart for military time conversion? It’s easy to use and save your time with conversions. Military Time Chart is what you need to convert a specific time from Military Time Format to Standard Time Format. Military Time Conversion Chart can help you with basic conversions, and that’s why I created a simple chart with an explanation to better understand how to convert specific hours. The military uses a phonetic alphabet to identify time zones. These codes are important for accuracy and dependability. This allows us to understand the context behind time. 0800 hours Bravo is a completely different time than 0800 hours Yankee. The fundamental principle is measuring time around the earth and having agreed upon definitions in order to remain clear and organized.