A Date-Time Group (DTG) is a standard format used primarily by the military, emergency services, and aviation to express a specific date, time, and time zone in a single, unconfused string of characters. [1, 2]

The Standard Format

The universally accepted format reads as: DDhhmmZMONYY. [1]

061712zJUN26CodeNameLUNA

• DD: The two-digit day of the month.
• hhmm: The time in a 24-hour clock (hours and minutes).
• Z: The single-letter code for the time zone (e.g., “Z” stands for Zulu, which is UTC).
• MON: The three-letter abbreviation for the month (e.g., JAN, FEB, MAR).
• YY: The last two digits of the year. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Examples of a DTG

• 041200ZFEB26: This translates to the 4th of February 2026, at 12:00 PM (1200) UTC (Z).
• 171710ZJUN26: This represents the 17th of June 2026, at 5:10 PM UTC. [1, 2, 3]

Common Time Zone Letters

The letter immediately following the time indicates the time zone offset from UTC: [1]

• Z (Zulu): UTC +0 (Greenwich Mean Time).
• A-M: One hour ahead of UTC per letter (e.g., “A” is UTC +1).
• N-Y: One hour behind UTC per letter (e.g., “N” is UTC -1).
• J: Represents the local time of the sender. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

If you want, let me know:

• What specific date and time you need to convert?
• Your target time zone or the local time?

I can help you construct an accurate Date-Time Group.