Hi keane5,
may be this can help you out. It is not an excellent solution but it works.
DATE_OLD="24-MAY-04 23:45:18"
DATE_NEW=`echo $DATE_OLD | awk ' BEGIN { FS="@"}
{
day=substr($1, 1, 2)
month=substr($1, 4, 3)
year=substr($1, 8, 2)
time=substr($1, 11, 8)
if (month == "MAY" )
{
month = "05"
}
# ..... and so on for every month from JAN to DEZ
print "20"year"-"month"-"day" "time
}'`
echo $DATE_NEW