Why use Military Time Instead of 10:30 AM?
Military time was created to reduce confusion when telling the time. It helps to clearly distinguish between 10:30 am and 10:30 pm. For example if a meeting begins at 10:30 it’s not immediately clear whether that means 10:30 am or 10:30 pm.
How to Convert 10:30 AM to Military Time
1. Determine if 10:30 am is before or after midday
We can tell this by looking at whether the time is followed by am or pm. A.M. is an abbrevation of ante meridiem, which is Latin for before midday. That means 10:30 am is before midday.
2. Calculate the hours and minutes since midnight
Before we can convert to military time we need to know how much time has passed since midnight. At 10:30 am we know it is 10 hours and 30 minutes since midnight.
3. Convert hours to military time
10:30 am is before midday so we simply take our hours since midnight (10) and because it is two digits that is already correct for military hours. That means the military time in hours is 10.
4. Combine the hours and the minutes
The military time in minutes is the number of minutes calculated in step two which is 30. Military time is given as four digits with the hours first, so the military time for 10:30 am is 1030.
What Time is 10:30 AM in Military Time?
The military time for 10:30 am is 1030. In some situations you may also need to state the military time zone. If you are stating the time in your local time zone the full military time for 10:30 am would be 1030J (J for Juliet). More commonly the time is quoted as 1030Z (Z for Zulu) which indicates 10:30 am in the UTC time zone.
How do you say 10:30 AM in Military Time?
When you are saying 10:30 am in military time you should state the digits 1030 as ten thirty hours. In some cases it is not necessary to finish the message with hours. If it is recommend to observe a military time zone you might say 1030Z as ten thirty hours Zulu time or simply ten thirty Zulu.