Thats how its done in the navy and the army too, espeically with flag officers.  For instance every General or Admiral coming out of USFK or CNFK is almost always awarded some wierd Korean decoration.  The one stop sign to this is when the decoration is so rare and off the wall that the Defense Department can declare it not authoirzed for wear on a uniform.  There is then a separate category of awards which the officer cant wear but can still have in the record and these are listed as "awards in the custody of the state department".  It is an interesting system but in the end the rank and file of the military rarely see such medals.  Germany is interesting since there are a lot of marksmanshhip and sports medals that get awarded, that is very true.  Your general is an interesting case and I will research him since I havent seen anyone get that medal before. -