CONVERSION FROM ZULU TIME TO LOCAL TIME

The conversion from ZULU time to local time is the reverse procedure of local to ZULU. For example, you are in San Diego, California, and receive a message from Washington, D.C., with a DTG of 101800Z. If you want the Washington local time of message origination, you need to know the zone designations for Washington-ROMEO +5. Then, apply the formula. Change the sign from +5 to -5 and subtract the 5 hours from the ZULU time of the message:

To check ourselves, let's work another example of converting ZULU to local. The U.S. Ambassador to Japan has received a message from the U.S. Secretary of State concerning the latter's plans to visit Tokyo. The Secretary has indicated an arrival time of 210830Z. The Ambassador's problem is one of diplomacy: Should he arrange a luncheon or an evening meal for the arrival of the distinguished guest? We need not concern ourselves with the geographic location of the Secretary of State because he used ZULU time. However, we must know the location and designators for Tokyo-INDIA (-9). Armed with this knowledge, apply the formula. We reverse the local sign (change the -9 to a +9), and work the math:

Forget the soup and sandwiches, he'll be there for supper!

NOTE: You may see some commercially produced time zone charts with the numerical zone designators reversed for the eastern hemisphere and "-" for the western hemisphere). Don't let this confuse you. Remember, in the eastern hemisphere the time will always be later than ZULU and in the western hemisphere it will always be earlier than ZULU.

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