were crossing into Iraq. Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) continue to graduate police officers from academies throughout the Mosul area while 1st Armored Division soldiers are training the Iraqi Police Services in modern policing techniques. The 101st AAD's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, nicknamed the "Rakassans," graduated 60 police officers 26 July 2003 from their academy in Sinjar. The new police officers will serve as future cadre for the academy. The giant Sinjar cement plant in northern Iraq is up and running again, 665 workers back on the job. Written off at the end of the war, the aging plant was looted, inoperable, until General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne, heard about it. Instead of spending millions on a contract, the 101st took just $10,000 of Saddam Hussein's frozen assets and gave it to the plant managers. Soldiers watched in amazement as the Iraqis cannibalized old machines for parts, fashioned new ones and got the factory running again by 15 September 2003. The plant is currently operating at 50 percent capacity and still turns out 50,000 tons of cement a day. Plans are in place to refurbish the second of two production lines. Soldiers with the 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), oversaw the installation of a satellite in Sinjar, allowing locals to communicate with U.S. soldiers for the first time ever. The satellite was installed on a communications tower in the city in northwest Iraq 1 October 2003. The telephone signal covers most of northern Iraq and south to Mosul. The ability to stay in contact with soldiers benefits both Iraqis and soldiers. Not only can Iraqis call in case of emergencies, they can offer tips such as the whereabouts of terrorists or report other suspicious acts. More than 100 parents and sick children waited outside the Sinjar General Hospital 23 October 2003, anxiously awaiting the opening of the first children's clinic north of Mosul. Medics from 2nd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) oversaw construction efforts by local contractors of the Sinjar Clinic for Children. The facility, which falls under the hospital's supervision, became the first exclusively pediatric health care center in the 187th's area of operations with its grand opening ceremony Oct. 23. The only other children's clinic in northern Iraq is in Mosul. In October 2008, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion took over operations at Sahl Sinjar