I asked a similar question several months ago & was told by someone, I can't remember exactly who now
, that they were going to work on an historical medal availabilty mod when they had some free time to do it. This mod was going correct the medal dates & the order in which they were awarded, ie. sometimes the game will award you a German Cross before you have earned an Iron Cross first class. Real life commitments must have intervened because I haven't seen anything further.
BTW: I believe that the auto-fix button at the bottom of the Crew Management screen in SH3 Cmdr will implement changes like releasing officers to command their own boats. I avoid using it as I like to hang on to experienced officers as long as possible.