Did you like this method to Convert Military Time to Standard? Care to Share? In the U.S. and Canada, the 24 hour clock is called the military time. It starts at midnight (0000 hours). It is a concise and unambiguous method to express time and is used by military and other emergency services. The military time does not use any symbol to separate hours and minutes, whereas the 24-hour format uses a colon. There is no ante meridiem (a.m.) or post meridiem (p.m.) in military time. Military time can be converted to 24 hour time by removing the colon.