Q. My question is if you elect $12,000 towards room and board - do you have to report/ claim it on your taxes and or pay taxes on it?
A. Yes. That is, all the "wiki how links" seem to say so. Example: https://www.wright.edu/army-rotc/guaranteed-reserve-forces-duty (one of many)
I'm not sure that's totally correct. If the scholarship amount shows in box 5, of the 1098-T, the taxable portion can still be reduced by the box 1 amount for qualified education expenses (adjusted for any expenses used to claim a tuition credit). But, if the conditions of the grant say it is restricted to being used for R&B, then you can't do that
