Complex sentence: In 1974 he became assistant to the head of research at the Military Intelligence Directorate, and and after serving as deputy head beginning in 1978, he rose to lead the unit in 1979.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1974 he became assistant to the head of research at the Military Intelligence Directorate. After serving as deputy head beginning in 1978, he rose to become head of Military Intelligence in 1979.