Top 3 hot spots to watch for in my opinion: Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic

I kind of doubt we would be sending troops to Syria or Iraq on a large scale in the near future simply due to the political ramifications that the current administration would suffer as a consequence.  If I remember correctly a small contingent of Marines have been sent to South Sudan in order to help evacuate American aid workers should the need arise.  i could be mistaken though.  As 1SG Kupsh said, it is really hard to tell with an specificity where we might end up in a conflict next.  My guess might be Africa if South Sudan, Maili, or the Central African Republic flares up to a point that Washington considers to be unacceptable.  Then again, North Korea could do something crazy again, or Al Qaeda could try to establish another stronghold somewhere that we have vested interests in.  It is really hard to say.  If the conflict in Syria spreads into Turkey (one of our NATO allies), we could see deployments beyond the two Patriot batteries we had there, but I think they would probably try to handle it themselves before we got significantly involved with boots on the ground.  Just my opinion.

It's really tough to say. In today's Army, we have to be ready to deploy anywhere. We don't have the luxury of a "front" where enemies are on the other side. We have to remain vigilant and ready, wherever we go.

I agree, it is very difficult to say where and when a situation might occur, and that we must remain fluid in todays frame of warfare. Especially since things have changed to the point of fighting random terrorism across seemingly all continents. However, I also feel that the Syria situation is like a boiling cancer, and I think that at some point it may require action be taken whether its popular or not. Its tied so firmly in to so many dynamic variables with other countries and allies in the area. With the atrocities growing worse by the month on both sides. Let the rebels win and back an Al-qaeda nation as they fill the void? Seems counter productive to allow them to clean house and set up shop. As far as Iraq goes, again, seems strange to fight so hard for so long, just to stand by and allow them to regain all we fought so hard for. With the CAR, seems like a weed that if left to keep growing will kill the garden, so to speak. North Korea appears nothing more than a long list of posturing, which I think is more for Kims own appearance internally than an actual threat to anyone. He uses these little arrogant displays to impress and impose a sense of self power for those that surround him. I will add that we need to focus on our own problems and stay out of other countries business, but home isn't exactly a military matter as much as its a problem with elite politicians that lack common knowledge. If we are gonna play the part of global police, than lets not do it half assed.