Two locally based military outfits were on the move in North Charleston Sunday with undisclosed bases in the Persian Gulf as their likely eventual destinations.

The Army Reserve's 941st Transportation Company drew the biggest crowd. About 200 friends, family members and unit veterans crowded into a dining hall at the Army Reserve Center at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station South Annex to say goodbye.

"You are going over there to protect civilization as we know it," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said during a farewell ceremony. "And we want to assure you that you're in our hearts and prayers."

Riley was one of several leaders to wish the reservists well. Others who spoke were state Reps. David Mack and Seth Whipper, both North Charleston Democrats; Rep. Floyd Breeland, D-Charleston; Charleston City Councilman Wendell G. Gilliard; Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Larry Knightner; and Capt. Anthony C. Moye, the company commander.

The 941st is a tanker unit whose linage dates from when the Army was still racially segregated. Its soldiers, about 75 percent of whom are black, refuel Army tanks from vantage points just behind the front lines. Several of the company's veterans who attended the ceremony said they hoped the United States would "finish the job" left over from the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

"We should have stayed there (in Iraq) until the SOB (Saddam Hussein) was gone," said Abraham Brown, a former first sergeant and Gulf War veteran who lives on James Island. "I'm saying if you're not going to finish the job, don't go."

The 941st has about 170 soldiers who will depart Tuesday for more training at Fort Bragg, N.C. Moye, their company commander, said.

"I don't know where we're going after (Fort Bragg)," he said. The company's tanker trucks have already departed by ship.

The Army's 841st TransportationBattalion at the Naval Weapons Station was also involved in a deployment to a still-secret destination.

The 841st's task was to load hundreds of military vehicles and dozens of steel containers from other military units onto the USNS Gordon, a roll-on, roll-off cargo ship that can displace nearly 58,000 tons when fully loaded.

Charleston is what the military calls a "gateway city," Lt. Col. Kent Selby, the battalion commander said. "Since Thursday, we have received about 700 Army vehicles and about 400 commercial trucks hauling shipping containers."

The Gordon "will be full up when it leaves," Selby said, including some cargo that was loaded in Norfolk, Va., before the ship arrived here. Whatever is left behind must be loaded aboard a succession of ships that will soon arrive in Charleston in the Gordon's wake.

Sunday's load-out included Army vehicles and equipment from several bases, some as far away as Virginia. The ship also was hauling soldier-mechanics whose job is to make sure the vehicles are still operating when they arrive at their destination. Sgt. Joe Robinson of the 16th Quartermaster Company at Fort Lee, Va., was one team member.

"I was selected because I'm one of the few guys (in the unit) who can repair all of our vehicles," Robinson said.

Terry Joyce covers the military. Contact him at tjoyce@postandcourier.com or 745-5857.