I don't see the point of this. I am (was) trying to figure out what to do. Posting a thread here may have been one of the worst things I have ever done.
I'm really not sure what you expected to hear from this forum. Your first question was whether it was possible to get a delay of the scholarship, that was answered early on. It was you that kept things going on how you wanted to take advantage of some unknown opportunities.
I am pretty confident that any of the comments that were written here would have relayed to the sons or daughters of any of the posters if they would have said they were considering giving up a full scholarship just to take a year off school. I certainly don't think anyone was speaking from a throne, just from experience.
If you ask a question that has such high consequences you need to be prepared for any answer.
What struck me the most is why you were even asking this question on a board like this, it seems this is something you would be discussing with your parents, not strangers. When asked for any clarification you only gave vague answers, you can't expect any support if you don't give any reasons.
When and if you start NROTC there will be times when you will need to ask questions or advice, if you didn't like the responses you received here, wait until you get theirs, they're not paid to be kind and gentle.
There was some good advice given to you in this thread, you may have taken some as abbrasive, but you need to understand, a lot of people have a hard time understanding why someone would give up an opportunity like this.
Now, if you had come here and said you were unsure whether you wanted to commit to the Navy and you need some more time to think about it, this would have been an entirely different conversation. You just said you wanted to take a year off but you were still committed to being in the Navy, that's what was hard to understand without any explanation.
While it may seem harsh, most here just don't want to see you throw away an opportunity like this. Talk to your parents, make your own decision, as someone said it's your life, your choice.
You've all goaded me into taking the easy and simple route.
OK, this one just made me laugh....easy and simple, you do realize how difficult this is.
After reading that post, maybe it is a good idea that you take a Gap year, give you time to "Chill Out" as you put it.
(we will have to wait till the future to see the ending to that post)
After you made the decision to go choose NROTC, show your parents the article and say something like 'seems kinda foolish for me with the Navy wanting me' to see what they think about it or other kids doing it.