[GreenKeys] Fwd: Military Time -vs- UTC

[Dave F via GreenKeys]

Sheldon:
 
See my comments in red below:
 
In a message dated 11/28/2014 3:16:27 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
SDAITCH at bbg.gov writes:

Guess  I might be one of those unwashed US civilians, as I've heard for 
many years  that military time meant using the 24-hour clock as the typical use 
of time  in the US armed forces is to always designate time in the 24-hour 
clock  format. 
I would not suggest that you are "unwashed".  No one faults people who 
don't know.
Within the US military, troops also use the 12  hour clock when telling 
time casually,
i.e. when not involved in, or participating in  an official military 
operation.
 
All US soldiers are taught the 24 hour clock  in BASIC training. They may 
be briefed
on ZULU time in their initial training, but  may not necessary use it in 
their regular
jobs or MOS once they get a specific  assignment
 
Presumably, all other services in the US  military teach the same thing in 
so far
as time keeping is concerned. We all use the  same time, whether local, 12 
hour,
24 hour, Zulu, GMT, CUT, UTC, or  whatever......and in many parts of the 
world,
one might hear terms such as 0800A (Alpha  time, Germany), or 0900H (Hotel 
time,
Vietnam, if memory still serves).
 
Time "zones" references are purely military; I  have never heard many 
civilian
operators using the letters of the alphabet to  refer to any world time 
zone. They do it
the hard way, by adding +/- to "local"  times......


A convention that we tend to use at work is that if the  time is designated 
in the 12-hour clock format, with AM or PM, it means  local time.  If we 
used the 24-hour clock format, it means UTC.  This is particularly the 
convention used at our stateside  operations.

The 24 hour clock does NOT refer or infer  that it means UTC. 
Regular or "local" time can use the 24 hour clock and  this is used in many 
parts
of the world instead of the 12 hour  clock
 
UTC (Zulu) time ALWAYS uses the 24 hour clock. No  exceptions that I am 
aware of.



UTC vs local time does tend to be a bit more complex when  we live in a 
country which is usually using the 24-hour clock format, but we  will also use 
context to determine whether it is local time or UTC - dealing  with 
non-program issues, it is local time, program issues, always  UTC. 
The 24 hour clock is easy to learn. Just  remember that it changes when you
get to ONE in the afternoon (1 PM). At that time, the  12 hour clock stops 
and 1 PM becomes
1300 hrs. You just count from there until you get to  12:00 midnight which 
is 2400.


VOA seems to have gotten away from designating any times  in its normal 
programming, perhaps because not all air shows are live and  some are repeats, 
so any hour specific times would be in error for the  repeats. 

One live show, BORDER CROSSINGS, which does not have an  air repeat, the 
host of that show, Larry London, does designate the  broadcast timing in the 
VOA format, universal  time.

I hope some of this is helpful to  you.......
 


INT ZBZ  ....QRV....K
 
Dave
 


73 
Sheldon
 
____________________________________
  
From: GreenKeys  <greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of WA5CAB--- 
via  GreenKeys <greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, November  28, 2014 8:20 PM
To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject:  [GreenKeys] Military Time -vs- UTC  




Another thing that  indicates that the information on that website was 
written by an unwashed US  civilian is that I never heard anyone but a US 
civilian refer to the 24-hour  clock as "military time". Although other countries 
do sometimes or even  mostly use the 12-hour clock, most people living in 
them know about the  24-hour clock and don't automatically call it "military 
time". The first  times I ever heard the time being routinely reported on the 
24-hour system  was probably on either the BBC or maybe Radio Havana.

Robert Downs -  Houston




















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