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0 pointsjameshart2y ago0 comments

"the military does have one standard time - Zulu time"

Nah they don't. Skipping over the (common on the internet) parochiality of assuming that US military practice is just 'what the military does'...

The US military certainly uses UTC/Zulu time for time stamping messages and coordinating operations globally, and timekeeping during extended missions (like submarine patrols, or air missions), but military bases and even surface vessels underway keep somewhat local time. They don't use Zulu time - that would mean the date changes in the middle of the day. You wouldn't be able to use words like 'next Tuesday' without having to disambiguate. It'd be crazy.

Zulu - Z - is just the last of the alphabetically named military timezones: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_time_zone, which is a NATO standard.

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3 comments · 2 top-level

kawhah2y ago· 1 in thread

I think you hit on the right answer.

The justifications given above don't really make sense - "how would you know when to call Sydney" or "the sun being overhead at 10PM would feel strange". They are just rationalizations of a system that we're used to.

But everywhere around the world, people want the date to change at a time when most things are closed and most people are asleep - which coincides with night-time for obvious reasons. This is effectively more important than having the date change at the same time for all of us.

humanrebar2y ago

I'm still not sure the costs outweigh the benefits, but I agree that this is the only concrete requirement that can't be solved with time, slow cultural change, and adjustments to some software.

bombcar2y ago

Zulu is used for aircraft scheduling, because it makes it simpler.

Outside of that, the military recognizes two times, zero dark hundred and late as hell.

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