Why use Military Time Instead of 9:30 PM?
Military time exists to eliminate miscommunication when telling the time. It helps to clearly distinguish between 9:30 pm and 9:30 am. For example if a departure time is stated as 9:30 it’s not immediately clear whether that means 9:30 pm or 9:30 am.
How to Convert 9:30 PM to Military Time
1. Determine if 9:30 pm is before or after midday
We can tell this by looking at whether the time is followed by am or pm. P.M. is an abbrevation of post meridiem, which is Latin for after midday. That means 9:30 pm is after midday.
2. Calculate the hours and minutes since midday
Before we can convert to military time we need to know how much time has passed since midday. At 9:30 pm we know it is 9 hours and 30 minutes since midday.
3. Convert hours to military time
9:30 pm is after midday so we simply take our hours since midday (9) and add 12 to get the military time in hours. That means the military time in hours is 21.
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 9:30 pm is 2130.
What Time is 9:30 PM in Military Time?
The military time for 9:30 pm is 2130. 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 9:30 pm would be 2130J (J for Juliet). More commonly the time is quoted as 2130Z (Z for Zulu) which indicates 9:30 pm in the UTC time zone.
How do you say 9:30 PM in Military Time?
When you are saying 9:30 pm in military time you should state the digits 2130 as twenty one 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 2130Z as twenty one thirty hours Zulu time or simply twenty one thirty Zulu.