How are fractions of an hour expressed in military time?

In the military, time is expressed in a manner very different from most civilian populations. Hourly values, for example, are indicated with a four-digit clock system which makes it easy to convey the exact military time. This allows the armed forces to accurately rely on personnel to be punctual and communicate time on a global level where time zones may differ.

One of the important differences between civilian clock systems and military clock systems is that they are split into halves instead of quarters of an hour. Civilian systems may break an hour into sixty minutes while military time splits EACH HOUR INTO TWO PARTS. The first two digits remain the same in both cases but the last two represent halves or parts of an hour rather than minutes. For example, 1530 would be three thirty-two p.m. in civilian terms, but fifteen-thirty hours in military terms.

When making fractions of an hour, it is important to remember that "00" represents a whole number and that any number between 01 and 30 indicate half-hour increments past the original hour number (e.g 1501 = 15:30 hours). Therefore 1620 would be sixteen twenty hours (4:20 pm), 1645 would be sixteen forty-five hours (4:45 pm) and 1700 would be seventeen hundred hours (5 pm). These numbers round up or down to visibly indicate whether they are beside or before their respective spots on the assumed clock face, respectively.

To help understand this concept better here is an example; if it's currently 1500 (three o'clock civilian time) then at 1515 it will read fifteen fifteen hours which still equals three fifteen o'clock in civil terms yet has now become fifteen thirty with respect to military time reading. Similarly at 1530 we arrive back at three thirty o'clock yet have now become fifteen hundred because that part of belonging within each separate half has been rounded off into its own individual reading as per military requirements and regulations