Military Time Makes Things Absolutely Clear
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (112717)
United States
October 22, 2024 2:49pm CST
Being a veteran, I've had a few people suggest military time was just a way to make time seem more, military-like. I usually laugh when someone says that to me. No, actually, military time is a way to make it absolutely clear what time you mean without having any confusion whatsoever, or having to remember if someone said AM or PM.
"The meeting will be at 1700." There is no other time this can mean EXCEPT for 5PM. Period. End of story. You can't say, "Oh, I thought you meant 5 in the morning." Nope. That would be 0500.
When things are clear, there's no room for interpretation or confusion.
And by the way, here's another little tidbit of interest, perhaps. We don't ever say "hours" in the military. That's something relegated to people in Hollywood and people who don't know how military time is stated.
"The meeting will be at 1700 hours," is something you will never hear a commanding officer tell you. It's simply 1700. Nothing more.
Now you know.
19 people like this
19 responses
@kaylachan (84701)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
22 Oct 24
I find twenty-four hour time confusing. I can see your point of view, about there being no confusion between morning or night, but If I have to think in twenty-four hour time I'm doing a lot of counting in my head to figure it all out. And, there wouldn't be confusion if people used a little common sense. But, humans don't always do that.
6 people like this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
22 Oct 24
It's common knowledge once you deal with it every day and know. Besides, the math is REALLY easy. 0100-1200 is 1am to noon. You just subtract 1200 from the time and voila. You know the time. 17 minus 12 is 5. Thus, 1700 is 5pm. 22 minus 12 is 10, therefore 2200 is 10pm.
What you don't want are confused troops. "The shores must be stormed at 8." Next thing you know they show up at 8pm and it was supposed to be 8am. The planes all showed up for ground cover at 8am, but you weren't there. lol
2 people like this
@somewitch (1470)
•
22 Oct 24
@kaylachan While I've always lived in country where 24 hour time is the norm, I sometimes get confused too. For example, I might confuse 9 in the evening with 19 (7 PM) as there's a nine. I don't even bother doing the math. 
But that's a minor inconvenience, I've never been too early or too late because of that.
But that's a minor inconvenience, I've never been too early or too late because of that.2 people like this
@kaylachan (84701)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
22 Oct 24
@somewitch I can't speak for other counteries, but I know the 12-hour clock is the norm around here. So that's how I learned to tell time.
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (97912)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
22 Oct 24
It did sometimes get a bit confusing for me when I lived in Latvia, The time was military time and you learned to know what 13:00 and so on meant throughout the day,
3 people like this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
23 Oct 24
Yep. It avoids all confusion. But yes, I can see where some people may be confused on the 12s. Noon is PM and midnight is AM. What confuses people even more is if someone says they went to bed at 1 am on Tuesday, they ACTUALLY went to bed at 1 am on WEDNESDAY. lol
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Oct 24
How do you say midnight in military time. Is it 2400 or 000?
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Oct 24
@porwest I missed a zero I see.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
26 Oct 24
@lovebuglena You should be shot at once. lol
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (122067)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
22 Oct 24
Thank you for sharing this information about military time since it is cleared what it is.
2 people like this
@2ndchances24 (12188)
• Cloverdale, Indiana
22 Oct 24
I could never get use to military time, husband tried to live with that
when we got married & I told him I can't deal with it that needs to change.
2 people like this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
24 Oct 24
In many ways, I think military time is much easier to fully understand. It leaves no room for error or interpretation. No AM or PM. So, no confusion about what time the troops should all be there. No room in the logs to forget to put an AM or PM to create confusion about when the log entry was made and so on and so forth.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
26 Oct 24
@2ndchances24 No. But at the same time, I think you can understand how it could be much more efficient and less confusing.
1 person likes this
@2ndchances24 (12188)
• Cloverdale, Indiana
24 Oct 24
@porwest we don't live on military time.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
23 Oct 24
I did not know about not saying hours. I should have. Both of my hubs have been military.
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (14782)
• Ireland
22 Oct 24
@porwest Crystal clear. But then how do you get my women folk to realise that 07.00 hours is when the big hand is at 12 and the little hand is at 7. No other configuration of the hands can be called 07.00. If the big hand is at 3 then it is no longer 07.00, it’s 07.15 and that’s a different time. I gave up a long time ago with this.
2 people like this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
23 Oct 24
But if the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 7 on the second half of the day it would be 1900, not 0700. Then, if on that same second half of the day the little hand is on the 3 it would be 1915, not 0715. 0700 and 0715 would be 7:00AM and 7:15AM respectively while 1900 and 1915 would be 7:00PM and 7:15PM respectively. lol
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Oct 24
@TheHorse I don’t know if all of Europe uses military time but Russia does.
2 people like this
Thank you for your service
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
24 Oct 24
@porwest It helps when I watch trivia on the Game Show Network.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
11 Aug
@LindaOHio That can help sometimes. lol
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (68159)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
22 Oct 24
I wish military time was taught in schools.
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (68159)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
23 Oct 24
@porwest Most jobs I have had we used military time because it was easier on the time clock.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
11 Aug
@thislittlepennyearns Most time clock accounting is done in military time as well because the math is far easier. Started work at 0800 and left work at 1700. 1700-800 equals 9 hours. Granted, minutes are still a bit more difficult since 32 minutes in a payroll calculation would be 0.512.
@aureategloom (11025)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
22 Oct 24
military time is used in Bosnia and that's how it's written in written notifications, mails, news, phones, computer etc.
but the thing is most people don't use that when they're talking.
"let's get coffee around 5?" - of course i mean in the afternoon, why would we have a coffee at 5 in the morning?
you understand what time they mean just from context
the only "problematic" ones to understand are 7, 8 and 9 - because those are normal hours for mornings and for evenings
the only "problematic" ones to understand are 7, 8 and 9 - because those are normal hours for mornings and for evenings 
@RevivedWarrior (3853)
• India
23 Oct 24
I was not aware you were a military veteran! There are so many things we can learn from military time and from military personnel. First is discipline. My dad studied in military school. Throughout his life no matter what day , he would get up at 0400 and have his morning routines completed by 0700. He made it a point for having fixed time for the breakfast, lunch and dinner and family must be there together during the time , no matter what happens! I hated the "discipline: part when I was a child , learned to appreciate as I grew older. Again, one feature I did notice with most military personnel is less talk and more action. Salute to you sir!
@somewitch (1470)
•
22 Oct 24
I come from a 24 hour country and one hour that confused me was 12, morning is always AM until noon. I always thought it was strange, I expected 12 AM after 11 AM.
I know AM means Ante Meridiem, before noon, but noon itself is not before nor after. Then 12:01 is PM, eventually I got why it was like that, and got used to the 12 hour system in general.
