In the Belgian AF, early-mid 1960s, pilots flew F-104G at Mach 2.3 and FL 550 with 250 Hrs TT.
Typical F-104 pilots flew 25 to 50 hrs yearly. Each mission around 30 minutes.
Once-a-week mission at times.
And some pilots were even NCOs, if you say only officers are pilots.
And in the "all-jet" training scheme, did their first solo in a... CM-170 jet.
xxx
Happy contrails