Awarding medals in game

[simsurfer]

What exactly does this do if anything in game? I cant for the life of me see where awarding any medal actually improves crew performance, is this just something you do for that imersion value or an I not seeing something. For an example: The wounded medal, I can have a patrol where no one gets hurt yet I get the option to award the medal and when I select it, I can award it to anyone. Better yet I might have a crewmember that does get injured but again not only will he light up when selecting the medal to award but so will everyone else.

Another question I see come up everytime I play is promotions, again does this really have an effect in the game or just another case of eye candy?

Thanks,

Scott