BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! It’s time for another article on military time! Today, we will be answering, “What is 1545 in military time?” Be sure to read until the very end to catch all the essentials!
Table of Contents
Military Time Essentials
To start, we will have a quick lesson on what military time is and how it is different from civilian time.
What is military time?
Military time is the timekeeping system that the military uses. It runs on a 24-hour clock instead of 12 hours. The military has this system because they want to completely rule out the chance of “showing up at the wrong time” because of confusion.
How is it compared to civilian time?
Military time does not differentiate between A.M – Ante Meridiem and P.M – Post Meridiem). It also does not use a colon to split the hours and minutes. The biggest difference, however, lies in the way it is pronounced and displayed. We will touch more on this next!
How to read military time?
To read military time, there are 5 key pointers that you need to remember.
- Military time has four digits.
- The first two are the hours, while the remaining two are the minutes.
- When the “hour” is less than 10, you must add 0 before it.
- You read the 0 as “zero” or “oh.”
- “Oh” is for less formal and diplomatic scenarios.
- When the “hour” is 10 or more, do not add a 0 before it.
- You read it as you normally would but…
- After the word “hundred” add the word “hour.”
Note: The same rules apply for reading the minutes.
- When the “hour” is alone (there are no minutes), read it with a “hundred” at the end.
- This means that when there are minutes, you do not read the “hundred.”
- Kiss “A.M” and “P.M” goodbye.
Now that you know the basics, here are a few examples to help you solidify your understanding.
- 0200 would be pronounced as “zero two hundred hours” or “oh two hundred hours.”
- 1200 would be pronounced as “twelve hundred hours.”
- 1245 would be pronounced as “twelve forty-five hours.”
Thus, going back to our main question, 15:45 in standard time is pronounced as fifteen forty-five hours in military time.
How to convert military time to civilian time? – 1545 time conversion
Next we will learn how to convert military time to civilian time. Here is how to do that:
- Divide the time into hours and minutes.
- Check if the time is greater than 1200.
- If it is, take 12 hours away.
- If it is not, keep it as it is.
- Keep the minutes as they are.
- Split the hours and minutes with a colon.
- Insert an “A.M” or “P.M.”
- If the time in the second step was less than 1200, put “A.M” at the end.
- If the time in the second step was not less than 1200, put “P.M” at the end.
Let’s put what you have read into practice! Military time 1545:
- Divide 1545 into hours and minutes. You should get 15 hours and 45 minutes.
- Check if the time is greater than 1200. 1545 is indeed greater. So, you take 12 away to get 3.
- Keep the minutes as they are. Hence, 45 minutes remain 45 minutes.
- Split the hours and minutes with a colon. 3 hours and 45 minutes is now 3:45.
- Insert an “A.M” or “P.M.” Since the time in the second step was greater than 1200, use “P.M.”
Voila! The final answer is 3:45 P.M!
How to convert civilian time to military time?
Now, let’s reverse the process and try to convert civilian time to military time. This way, we can be sure that we have 100% understood the process!
What is 15:45 time in military time?
1. Note the “P.M.” This indicates that the time is greater than 1200 in military time.
- So, working backward, we should add 12 rather than taking it away,
- In our case, 3 hours plus 12 hours would be 15 hours.
2. The minutes remain as they are. Thus, 45 minutes is just 45 minutes.
3. Remove the “P.M” and the colon. Remember? These are not a part of military time.
4. We are left with 1545! That’s our ultimate answer.
That was a lot of information to process, right? To help you, the most important takeaway here is:
- When the hour is greater than 1200, you need to subtract 12 and end it with a “P.M.”
- When the hour is not greater than 1200
- The two starting digits are the hours. You need to end it with an “A.M.”
- The two ending digits are the minutes. You keep these as they are.
To become accustomed to reading and converting military time, do some practice with this here.
Additional Resources
To help you with the conversions, here is a concise chart:
|
Standard Civilian Time (12 Hour Format) |
Military
Time |
Standard Civilian Time
(24 Hour Format) |
| 12:00 Midnight | 0000 | 00:00 |
| 1:00 A.M | 0100 | 01:00 |
| 2:00 A.M | 0200 | 02:00 |
| 3:00 A.M | 0300 | 03:00 |
| 4:00 A.M | 0400 | 04:00 |
| 5:00 A.M | 0500 | 05:00 |
| 6:00 A.M | 0600 | 06:00 |
| 8:00 A.M | 0700 | 07:00 |
| 9:00 A.M | 0900 | 09:00 |
| 10:00 A.M | 1000 | 10:00 |
| 11:00 A.M | 1100 | 11:00 |
| 12:00 P.M | 1200 | 12:00 |
| 1:00 P.M | 1300 | 13:00 |
| 2:00 P.M | 1400 | 14:00 |
| 3:00 P.M | 1500 | 15:00 |
| 4:00 P.M | 1600 | 16:00 |
| 5:00 P.M | 1700 | 17:00 |
| 6:00 P.M | 1800 | 18:00 |
| 7:00 P.M | 1900 | 19:00 |
| 8:00 P.M | 2000 | 20:00 |
| 9:00 P.M | 2100 | 21:00 |
| 10:00 P.M | 2200 | 22:00 |
| 11:00 P.M | 2300 | 23:00 |
| 12:00 P.M | 2400 | 24:00 |
If you are in a rush and cannot work through the manual process, avail of this converter tool.
Conclusion
DING! DING! DING! Time is up on this lesson about “What is 1545 in military time?” But now you should have all the information you need to answer this question on your own. If you have extra thoughts or questions, feel free to reach out to us in the comments. We have no doubt that you have mastered military time. Therefore, help us help others do the same by sharing this article’s content!
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.