What is 1345 in military time? The short answer is 1:45 P.M. But, you would want to know how to arrive at that answer on your own, right? It is not easy but it is not rocket science either. We will give you all the information you need to understand the military time and compute the time on your own. Are you ready? Let’s get straight into it!
We will cover:
Table of Contents
What Is Military Time and How Is It Different?
The military has its own timekeeping system called military time. This system runs for 24 hours instead of 12 hours like standard civilian time. As such, there is no distinguishing between A.M (Ante Meridiem) and P.M (Post Meridiem).
In comparison with the standard 24-hour system, military time does not use a colon to separate the hours and the minutes. Plus, it is read and pronounced differently (as you will later find out).
The military decided on this system because they wanted to be able to tell time precisely as well as minimize confusion. Given the nature of the military, this is quite reasonable, right? No one would want to “schedule” a fight and show up at the wrong time.
If you are about to enlist in the military, it is important that you understand how military time works, and part of that is being able to read and convert it—we will learn both in the following sections! Here we go!
How to Read Military Time?
Reading military time is easy once you remember the basic pointers:
- There are four digits in military time.
- The first two indicate the hours.
- The remaining two indicate the minutes.
- If the hour is less than 10, add a 0 before it and read it as “zero” or “oh”.
- If the hour is 10 or more than 10, do not add a 0 before it and read it you normally would.
- And plus the word “hour” after the word “hundred”.
- Apply the same rules for the minutes.
- If the hour is alone and there are no minutes, read the time with a “hundred” at the end.
- By the same token, when reading the hours with minutes, omit the “hundred”.
- No more “A.M” or “P.M”.
For instance,
- 0300 would be read as “zero three hundred hours” or “oh three hundred hours”.
- “Oh” is used for less diplomatic and formal situations.
- 1300 would be read as “thirteen hundred hours”.
- 1345 would be read as “thirteen forty-five hours”.
How to Convert Military Time to Standard Civilian Time?
Returning to our original question, “What is 1345 in military time?”, we need to know how to convert military time to standard civilian time. To do that, you can use this converter below:
Or here is another way we need to take:
- Split the time into hours and minutes.
- See if the time is greater than 1200.
- If yes, subtract 12 hours from the time.
- If not, keep it as it is.
- Leave the minutes as they are.
- Separate the hours and minutes with a colon.
- Add an “A.M” or “P.M”.
- If the time in step 2 was less than 1200, add an “A.M” at the end.
- If the time in step 2 was greater than 1200, add “P.M” at the end.
So, let’s do try converting 1345 now:
- Split 1345 into hours and minutes. We get 13 hours and 45 minutes.
- See if the time is greater than 1200. 1345 is greater, so we take 12 away from 13 to get 1.
- Leave the minutes as they are. 45 minutes is still 45 minutes.
- Separate the hours and minutes with a colon. 1 hour and 45 minutes is now 1:45.
- Add an “A.M” or “P.M”. Since our time in step 2 was greater than 1200, we add “P.M”.
Our final result is 1:45 P.M! Be careful not to mistake this with 13:45 P.M or 13:45 military time, since the former would be the 24-hour format for a standard civilian time, not the 12-hour format. and the latter would be an incorrect presentation with a colon (:).
How to Convert Standard Civilian Time to Military Time?
Now, to make sure that we have 100% understood the conversion process, let’s work backward and convert the standard civilian time to military time. What is 1:45 P.M in military time?
- Notice the P.M; this implies that in military time, the time is greater than 1200.
- In working backward, you would add 12 instead of taking away 12.
- Hence, 1 hour plus 12 hours would be 13 hours.
- Keep the minutes as they are. So, 45 minutes is still 45 minutes.
- Take away the P.M and colon; these are not included in military time.
- Finally, we are left with 1345!
⇒ The most important rule that you must remember is this:
- If the given “hour” is > 1200, subtract it with 1200 and add a “P.M” at the end.
- If the given “hours” is < 1200:
- The first 2 digits are the “hours”; add an “A.M” at the end.
- The remaining 2 digits are the “minutes”.
For the earlier stages where you are still practicing and getting used to the conversion process, you can use this online tool to check your answers.
More Useful Resources
A chart to help you with the conversions:
| Military Time | Standard Civilian Time (12hr Format) | Standard Civilian Time (24hr Format) |
| 0000 | 12:00 Midnight | 00:00 |
| 0100 | 1:00 A.M | 01:00 |
| 0200 | 2:00 A.M | 02:00 |
| 0300 | 3:00 A.M | 03:00 |
| 0400 | 4:00 A.M | 04:00 |
| 0500 | 5:00 A.M | 05:00 |
| 0600 | 6:00 A.M | 06:00 |
| 0700 | 8:00 A.M | 07:00 |
| 0900 | 9:00 A.M | 09:00 |
| 1000 | 10:00 A.M | 10:00 |
| 1100 | 11:00 A.M | 11:00 |
| 1200 | 12:00 P.M | 12:00 |
| 1300 | 1:00 P.M | 13:00 |
| 1400 | 2:00 P.M | 14:00 |
| 1500 | 3:00 P.M | 15:00 |
| 1600 | 4:00 P.M | 16:00 |
| 1700 | 5:00 P.M | 17:00 |
| 1800 | 6:00 P.M | 18:00 |
| 1900 | 7:00 P.M | 19:00 |
| 2000 | 8:00 P.M | 20:00 |
| 2100 | 9:00 P.M | 21:00 |
| 2200 | 10:00 P.M | 22:00 |
| 2300 | 11:00 P.M | 23:00 |
| 2400 | 12:00 P.M | 24:00 |
A worksheet for you to practice the conversions.
Conclusion
Time’s up! But you are now equipped with all the information to master military time. The next time you are asked, “What is 1345 military time?” the answer will surely come to mind naturally!
You will be able to answer confidently on your own without searching for this article again, just be sure you keep everything you have read close to heart! Share this article and leave questions in the comments below.
I am Everett Bledsoe, taking on the responsibility of content producer for The Soldiers Project. My purpose in this project is to give honest reviews on the gear utilized and tested over time. Of course, you cannot go wrong when checking out our package of information and guide, too, as they come from reliable sources and years of experience.