Effect of medals?
 

I see that promoting someone and then picking their specialization gives them a 20 point bonus to the related skill number, but does awarding a medal to someone have any effect?

After much discussion and research on the topic, the conclusion is that it might have some sort of effect, but might not. To my knowledge, there is no known effect. It is believed that it has a positive effect on morale.

Sure, there's an effect! It fills up your medal box.