By May 2nd, the U.S. had assembled a huge naval and air force in the region, that was pointed at Pakistan. This force would attack any Pakistani troops or warplanes that went after the U.S. forces in the bin Laden compound, or who might be able to do so. The U.S. had assembled three aircraft carriers, hundreds of air force aircraft in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, and dozens of helicopters, and thousands of troops, in Afghanistan. Most of these troops didn't know what they were alerted for. Such alerts happen all the time, often for no reason (as far as the troops are concerned.) But this time, as word of the bin Laden raid got out, it became obvious (at least to those who know how these things work) that the alerts throughout the region were to prepare for the possible need to quickly get the American raiders out, and destroy any Pakistani forces that sought to interfere.
Pakistan's troops instead worked with our team to secure the bin Laden compound and allow our forces to return to Afghanistan.
Interesting that we massed such a force above what we normally have without drawing much attention. Three carriers in one place would normally make the news. Sure, you can disguise it for a while by overlapping a carrier rotation in one place and making a high speed dash with another carrier to that place from outside the region, but it can't be kept quiet for long.
This also explains why we had the compound under surveillance for so long. It takes time to put that much power together without being obvious about it.
Next time somebody wants to rely on "just" small teams of special forces to defeat our jihadi enemies, remember the massed power behind SEAL Team 6 that helped them pull it off. I know it is tough to appreciate the intelligence derived from having boots on the ground all over the place (ours or allied boots), but this conventional military support's value is too obvious to ignore.
