It's probably not really a jump. In 1983 the Office of Information Assurance in the US Department of Justice probably was a tiny blip on the Justice Department's org chart with 5 people in it. It's pretty easy to get the title Deputy Director when you only have 5 people in an office.

Government titles are interesting. I've run into many Deputy Assistant Directors or other out there title just to fill in a line on an org chart. Plus it's easier to get money for a position when it has a title.