This military time converter works both ways: type a civilian time with AM or PM to get the four-digit military form, or type four digits to get the AM/PM equivalent. Each answer comes with the rule that produced it, so the conversion sticks rather than staying a black box. The underlying method is simple — add twelve to PM hours, leave AM hours alone — with two exceptions at noon and midnight that catch almost everybody.
The rule in one line
For any PM time except noon, add 12 to the hour: 7:00 PM becomes 1900. For any AM time except midnight, keep the hour and pad it to two digits: 7:00 AM becomes 0700. Noon stays at 12, giving 1200, and midnight becomes 0000. Going the other way, subtract 12 from any hour of 13 or above and add PM. Our guide to converting AM/PM to military time works through the awkward cases.
The mistakes worth avoiding
Three errors account for most confusion: writing "1900 PM" (military time never takes AM or PM), reading 1750 as seventeen and a half hours (minutes are sixtieths, not decimals — see military time minutes), and mixing up 0000 with 1200. The converter flags each of these as you type.