All this talk about how many years one has 'got in', reminds me of the lines in a book called "101 Nights" by Ray Ollis. As might be imagined, it is a novel about 101 Sqn at Ludford Magna during the last unpleasantness with Herr Adolf.
At one point the 'hero' a F/S navigator is being upbraided by his new and operationally inexperienced flight commander. The gist is that the former's BEM 'pink' ribbon is faded and his logbook is made up in a non standard way. The flight commander then boasts about the number of flying hours he has.
The nav's response goes along the lines of: 'Sir, the BEM ribbon is not pink, it is pearl and it is not how many hours you've got in, but what you've got into the hours'.
Quite so!
Old Duffer